The Boston Red Sox closed their six-game homestand on a high note Wednesday afternoon.
The Sox completed a three-game series sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 6-4 victory at Fenway Park.
Boston received a great outing from Eduardo Rodriguez, who earned his sixth win of the season. The strong starting pitching was matched by timely hitting, including a pair of home runs.
With the win, the Red Sox improve to 39-17, while the Blue Jays drop to 25-31.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Dominant.
The Red Sox breezed past the Jays in the series and now are 7-2 against their American League East foe on the season.
ON THE BUMP
— Rodriguez set the tone right from the get-go with an eight-pitch first inning. From there, the left-hander was in total cruise control, retiring the next 10 batters, four of which came via strikeout. Toronto didn’t log its first hit of the game until Kendrys Morales laced a one-out single in the fifth inning.
The sixth looked as though it was going to be a quick inning for Rodriguez, who sat down the first two hitters of the frame with ease. But after Gio Urshela worked a two-out walk, Teoscar Hernandez spoiled Rodriguez’s scoreless effort with a two-run, game-tying home run.
Rodriguez returned for the seventh, but after retiring the first two batters of the inning, manager Alex Cora decided to pull his starter. In total, the southpaw tossed 6 2/3 innings in which he allowed two runs on three hits while striking out seven and walking one.
— Matt Barnes recorded the final out of the seventh. The right-hander came back on for the eighth and tossed a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts.
— Brian Johnson started the ninth but quickly was yanked after allowing two singles on three pitches.
— Craig Kimbrel followed Johnson and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. Morales then smacked a two-RBI double down the right field line to cut Boston’s lead to 6-4. That’s as close as Toronto would get, though, as the Red Sox closer sat down the next three batters to preserve the win.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— After going hitless in the first two innings, the Red Sox got the bats going in the third. Blake Swihart led off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. Boston plated its first run on the next batter when Jackie Bradley Jr. roped an opposite-field RBI double off the Green Monster to bring in Swihart.
The Sox had an opportunity to do more damage in the third, but Andrew Benintendi was thrown out trying to steal second and Bradley was cut down at home as he tried to score on a wild pitch.
— Eduardo Nunez tacked on the Red Sox’s second run in the fifth inning with a solo homer that just barely got over the Monster.
— J.D. Martinez did the honors of breaking a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning when he walloped his 18th home run of the season, a two-run shot that traveled an estimated 434 feet.
— Boston added some insurance in the eighth. Xander Bogaerts led off the inning with a ringing single off the Monster, while Martinez was able to reach on a throwing error from Jays reliever Ryan Tepera. After Rafael Devers popped out, Nunez brought in Bogaerts with a flared double down the right field line. Brock Holt kept it going with a weakly hit RBI single past Toronto’s drawn in infield.
— Devers and Christian Vazquez were the lone Red Sox starters who failed to record a hit.
TWEET OF THE DAY
It’s safe to say Martnez has a flair for the long ball.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox kick off a four-game series with the Houston Astros on Thursday night. Drew Pomeranz is set to get the ball for Boston opposite Lance McCullers Jr. First pitch from Minute Maid Park is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET.
