Red Sox start fast, blast four home runs in win over Blue Jays

The Red Sox’ league-leading offense has proven to be mortal several times this season, but they continue to show that it’s almost impossible to slow them down for long.

A night after being shut out for just the second time this season, the Red Sox returned with a vengeance Wednesday night. They jumped on Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling in a hurry, scoring six runs in the first two innings on their way to a 7-3 victory over the Jays at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla. The Red Sox blasted four homers on the night as they held their lead in the American League East.

Before Tuesday’s series opener, Alex Cora talked about how the ball flew at TD Ballpark, the Jays’ spring training home that resembles a minor league stadium, with a wind tunnel that shoots out to right-center. But it took the Red Sox a night to figure it out for themselves.

The Red Sox created a nightmare for Stripling right away. A night after recording five hits in their 8-0 loss, they strung together five consecutive hits to open the game for the first time since 2005, when Tony Graffanino, Edgar Renteria, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar did it.

This time, it was Kiké Hernandez who started the game with a single before Alex Verdugo and J.D. Martinez followed with back-to-back homers. Xander Bogaerts’ single and Rafael Devers’ double down the left-field line finished the streak before Christian Vazquez finally recorded the first out with a groundout that scored a run, which made it 4-0.

Bobby Dalbec’s RBI double gave the Red Sox a 5-0 first-inning lead before Garrett Richards even stepped on the mound.

Hernandez continued his recent power surge with a moonshot. Two days after belting two homers in his final rehab game with Triple-A Worcester — including the first grand slam in WooSox history — he destroyed a pitch from Stripling that looked like it left the park entirely to make it 6-1 in the second. The center fielder went 3-for-5, and came a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

The Red Sox chased Stripling early and were mostly quiet before Vazquez’s solo homer in the eighth, his first since April 7. Every Red Sox hitter besides Marwin Gonzalez recorded at least one hit.

Other takeaways from Wednesday’s win:

— Richards wasn’t at his best, but still went 6 2/3 innings and allowed two runs, one after he left the game when Garrett Whitlock gave up a two-run homer. He started the game by giving up a walk, two doubles, and another walk, but after a quick mound visit from pitching coach Dave Bush, he seemed to settle down. The right-hander allowed seven hits and four walks, but limited the damage with the help of inducing three double plays.

For his third consecutive start, Richards received healthy run support. The Red Sox have supported him for 25 runs over his last three, all wins. Richards is now 4-0 with a 2.35 ERA over his last four starts.

— Devers is still among the league leaders in errors by third baseman this season, but he had one of his finest nights at the hot corner in Wednesday’s win. He was a vacuum at third, with his best play coming on a run-saving scoop in the first on a sharp grounder from Randal Grichuk that would have gone for extra bases had it got by him.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3yrN7Eg