Red Sox Notes: Mookie Betts Heating Up In Leadoff Spot For Boston

Mookie Betts is starting to get on a roll.

The Red Sox star went 4-for-4 with a home run and four RBI during Boston’s 11-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night at Miller Park.

Betts is 7-for-15 with two home runs and five RBI since being re-inserted into the leadoff spot in the Red Sox’s lineup Saturday.

The 24-year-old right fielder has been known to take off once he heats up, and it certainly looks like that time has come.

“A big night. Mookie is swinging the bat exceptionally well on this road trip, as is Andrew (Benintendi),” manager John Farrell said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “I just think he is getting pitches in the middle of the plate that he’s not missing.

“And we’ve seen for almost two years now, when he gets in these kinds of runs, he gets a lot of hard contact at the impact of the baseball, extra-base hits pretty frequently, and he’s in that spot right now.”

Here are some other notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox vs. Brewers game.

— Utility man Brock Holt hit a two-run homer for Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday as he continued to rehab from vertigo.

— Left-hander Brian Johnson spun a gem for Triple-A Pawtucket, allowing three runs and striking out 10 in seven innings.

— The Red Sox have scored 35 runs on 42 hits over their last three games. They have collected 25 extra-base hits and walked 21 times over that span as well.

— Pomeranz only has gotten out of the seventh inning twice in 19 starts with the Red Sox.

The veteran left-hander also has seen a decrease in his velocity.

With that drop in velocity has come an inability to overpower hitters. Pomeranz only is getting swings-and-misses on 22 percent of his strikes, which is a two percent drop from last year.

— Red Sox prospect Rafael Devers was named the Eastern League Player of the Week at Double-A Portland. The 20-year-old batted .440 with four home runs and 10 RBI during a scorching seven-game stretch.

— Red Sox left-hander David Price threw a simulated game Tuesday in Milwaukee. He tossed four innings and threw more than 60 pitches.

“He had another good work day,” Farrell said, per Mass Live’s Christopher Smith. “It’s good to see him at the point now where it’s the fine-tuning to execute pitches versus always being a physical response to the workload. A good work day for him. Anticipate a light bullpen on Thursday as he has been doing. We’ll see where we go after that.”

Farrell noted that the next step for Price could be a rehab start, but that has not yet been determined.

Thumbnail photo via Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports Images