BOSTON — Hours after one of the greatest pitchers in Red Sox history was enshrined in Cooperstown, Boston’s bats were the story at Fenway Park.
David Ortiz homered twice Sunday and drove in a career-high seven runs, and the Red Sox set a new season high for hits as they thoroughly manhandled the Detroit Tigers by a final score of 11-1Â at Fenway Park.
GAME IN A WORD
BP.
The Red Sox teed off on Tigers starter Shane Greene and various members of Detroit’s bullpen, racking up 20Â total hits in one of their best offensive efforts of the season.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Boston sent 17 men to the plate between the fifth and sixth innings, notching 10 hits and plating seven runs.
The hit parade overshadowed an excellent bounce-back effort from Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez, who allowed just three hits and one run in his seven innings of work.
ON THE BUMP
— After getting shelled last Monday in Anaheim, Rodriguez started strong Sunday, retiring the side in order in the first and second innings.
The young southpaw hit a rough patch in the third after allowing a leadoff double and throwing what would have been the final out of the inning into right field, but he got Ian Kinsler to ground out back to the mound to end the threat and strand a pair in scoring position.
A 1-2-3 fourth followed before the Tigers got on the board via a moonshot to dead center by Nick Castellanos.
Rodriguez ran into another bit of trouble in the seventh after allowing the inning’s first two batters to reach, but he buckled down to strike out Castellanos and was the beneficiary of an inning-ending double play in what proved to be his final frame.
Rodriguez allowed one run on three hits, walked one, struck out six and committed one error en route to earning his sixth win of the season.
— Robbie Ross Jr. worked a 1-2-3 eighth, and Alexi Ogando finished things off with a scoreless ninth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Brock Holt stroked a first-inning single for Boston’s first hit of the ballgame but appeared to tweak his knee as he rounded first base. He was examined by manager John Farrell and the Red Sox’s team trainer and remained in the game for another two at-bats, but later left the game with what the team called “left knee tightness.”
Jemile Weeks, who was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier in the day, took over Holt’s post at second base and went 1-for-2 with a run scored.
— The Red Sox put runners in scoring position in the first and second innings but could not push a run across against Greene. They finally capitalized in the fourth, with Hanley Ramirez reaching on a leadoff single, Mike Napoli working a nine-pitch walk and Blake Swihart doubling just inside the first base bag to score Ramirez from second and give Boston a 1-0 lead.
— The floodgates opened in the fifth. Brock Holt and Xander Bogaerts led off the frame with consecutive singles, and David Ortiz brought them both home by pulverizing an 0-1 fastball over the Tigers’ bullpen for a three-run home run.
Hanley Ramirez followed by doubling off the Green Monster, then took third on a sacrifice bunt by Alejandro De Aza. The Tigers then intentionally walked Pablo Sandoval, and after a seven-pitch at-bat, Napoli blooped an RBI ground-rule double down the right field line to make it 5-1 Sox.
That ended the night for Greene, who was charged with five earned runs on 11 hits in his brief outing.
— Kyle Ryan was able to close out the fifth without any further damage, but he followed his predecessor’s lead in the sixth. The Red Sox began that frame with three back-to-back-to-back singles, with Ortiz’s scoring Weeks from second base to extend Boston’s lead to 6-1.
After a strikeout and a fielder’s choice, Sandoval joined the fun. The burly third baseman blooped a single over Jefry Marte’s head at first to plate Ortiz with the Red Sox’s seventh run of the ballgame. Napoli followed suit with a single of his own to make it 8-1.
— Ortiz struck again in seventh, planting a Neftali Feliz offering into the Monster seats for another three-run homer. The designated hitter was the first Red Sox player to drive in seven runs in a single game since Will Middlebrooks did so against the Colorado Rockies in 2013.
— All nine starters recorded at least one hit for the Red Sox, with Ortiz and Bogaerts leading the way with four apiece. Boston’s Nos. 2 through 5 hitters combined to go 13-for-20 with seven RBIs and 10 runs scored.
TWEET OF THE GAME
No big deal.
[tweet https://twitter.com/Shesta_Sox/status/625501918748635136Â align=’center’%5D
UP NEXT
The Chicago White Sox come to town for a four-game series beginning Monday. Right-hander Joe Kelly will start the opener for Boston opposite Chicago lefty John Danks.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
