BOSTON — Hanley Ramirez has provided a ton of power to the Red Sox lineup this season with nine home runs in 21 games. He’s tied with Seattle Mariners outfielder Nelson Cruz for the major-league lead.
Ramirez hit his 200th career home run with a two-run blast to right field in the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s 11-8 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. It also was his fourth home run in the last five games.
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The last player to hit nine or more home runs before May was David Ortiz in 2006. He hit a Red Sox record 54 homers that season.
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— Ortiz went 2-for-3, including his 550th career double, which moves him ahead of Chipper Jones for 26th place on the all-time doubles list.
— Red Sox center fielder Mookie Betts is 5-for-9 with four runs scored, two doubles and three RBIs in the last two games. It’s the first time all season he’s had back-to-back multi-hit games.
— Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval is 7-for-9 with five runs scored, two doubles, a home run and six RBIs in the last three games. He was 4-for-5 Tuesday night and collected his first base hit right handed.
“Good to see him get the base hit right handed, obviously, he’s been grinding a little bit from that side of the plate,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
“But he’s in a good place offensively. He’s got a chance to capitalize on some highs, and he’s doing that right now in a very good streak right now. Hanley with a big night as well, and when you’ve got those guys in the middle of the order, that’s why you have the feeling you can come back from the deficit regardless of the inning.”
— Daniel Nava played first base with Mike Napoli out of the lineup because of illness. Nava went 0-for-3 and has zero hits in his last 15 at-bats.
— Ramirez was caught stealing in the fourth inning. Boston is 0-for-3 on its last three stolen base attempts after beginning the campaign 12-for-12.
— Farrell provided an update in status for Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino, who was placed on the 15-day DL last week with a right hamstring strain.
“Victorino’s running will increase with intensity (Tuesday),” Farrell said. “We anticipate that he continues to ramp up through the weekend and hopefully early next week will be able to go out and get some at-bats.”
— According to Farrell, first baseman Mike Napoli will be out “probably the next couple of days.” Farrell added it’s a flu/bug-type thing and that he’s contagious, so the team wants to be careful and not expose him to other guys.
— Rusney Castillo is on track to DH with the Pawtucket Red Sox on Wednesday, per Farrell.
— Boston recalled outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. from Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday and optioned right-handed pitcher Steven Wright to Triple-A.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
