Red Sox Wrap: Jackie Bradley Jr., Boston Stay Red Hot To Sweep Away A’s

BOSTON — A three-night display of overwhelming offensive excellence by the Red Sox culminated Wednesday night in yet another lopsided victory over the reeling Oakland A’s.

The Red Sox posted double-digit runs for the third time in three games — the franchise’s longest such streak since 2007 — and collected 17 hits as they pasted the A’s 13-3 to wrap up a three-game sweep at Fenway Park.

Right-hander Rick Porcello did more than enough to pick up his team-leading sixth victory for Boston, scattering three runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings of work.

GAME IN A WORD
Jackie.

Every Red Sox starter recorded at least one hit in the win, the only time they did so in a series they thoroughly dominated. But it was Boston’s No. 9 hitter, center fielder Jackie Bradley, who led the way offensively for the second consecutive game, going 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and six RBIs.

Bradley’s full stat line for the three-game series reads as follows: 8-for-14, one double, three home runs, 13 RBIs, four runs scored.

IT WAS OVER WHEN …
An RBI double by Bradley, a run-scoring groundout by Mookie Betts and a two-run double by Hanley Ramirez allowed the Red Sox to turn a 6-3 lead into a 10-3 advantage in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Boston scored runs in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings.

ON THE BUMP
— Porcello pitched a 1-2-3 first inning but ran into a bit of trouble in the second. He struck out the side in the frame but also surrendered two hits, one of which was a two-out Yonder Alonso double that plated the game’s first run.

Oakland tallied two more runs in the third on a two-run, two-out single by Khris Davis. A walk and a wild pitch didn’t help Porcello’s cause in the inning.

The right-hander breezed through a perfect fourth frame, then had to battle again in the fifth, loading the bases with a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch before inducing an inning-ending groundout to escape the jam.

Porcello faced little resistance the rest of the way, retiring six of the final seven batters he faced before giving way to Tommy Layne with two men out in the seventh inning. He now has pitched into the seventh in 15 consecutive starts.

— The trio of Layne, Koji Uehara and Matt Barnes finished the game with 2 1/3 scoreless frames.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Bradley got the Red Sox on the board by skying a three-run homer over the Boston bullpen in the third inning, extending his career-long hitting streak to 17 games. It’s the longest active streak in the majors and one game shy of the longest by any player this season.

Bradley left the yard again in the eighth inning, giving him five home runs in his last seven games and six total this season. He has done the bulk of this damage from the very bottom of the lineup, too, batting out of the No. 9 hole 10 times during his 17-game hit streak.

— Chris Young followed a 3-for-4 night Tuesday by doubling in each of his first two plate appearances Wednesday, with his second two-bagger driving in Dustin Pedroia with Boston’s fourth run of the night. Seven of Young’s 11 hits this season have been doubles.

— Pedroia secured his own trip around the bases one inning later, depositing a pitch into the Green Monster seats for a two-run homer with one out in the fourth. The second baseman scored three of his team’s 13 runs in the ballgame.

— After their four-run fifth inning, the Red Sox added another insurance run in the sixth, with Christian Vazquez doubling and scoring on a two-out single by Betts. Vazquez finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored, his first multi-hit game since April 15.

— Xander Bogaerts notched three singles, going 3-for-5 with a run scored before Brock Holt replaced him at shortstop in the eighth inning.

TWEET OF THE GAME

UP NEXT
The Red Sox begin a four-game series with the Houston Astros on Thursday night at Fenway. Each team is expected to send its ace to the mound for the opener, with David Price going for Boston and 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner Dallas Kuechel taking the hill for Houston.

Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images