The Boston Red Sox aren’t suffering from any jet leg.
After winning six straight games on the road thanks to a pair of sweeps, the Sox picked right back up where they left off, beating the Texas Rangers 5-0 on Monday night at Fenway Park in the series opener of a three-game set.
The longball was the difference Monday, as Steve Pearce smacked a two-run home run in the first inning, with J.D. Martinez adding a three-run blast in the eighth.
With the win, the Red Sox climb to 63-29, while the Rangers fall to 40-52.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Homers.
Between Pearce and Martinez, all of the game’s runs came via the dinger.
ON THE BUMP
— Eduardo Rodriguez provided another solid outing as he earned his 11th win of the season. The southpaw allowed three hits and as many walks with five strikeouts over 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
Although Rodriguez allowed one runner to reach in both the first and second inning, he posted a 1-2-3 third.
Runners made it to first and second in the fourth stanza with two outs, but Rodriguez got out of the frame without issue.
The 25-year-old tossed an anticlimactic fifth inning, but allowed runners to get to first and second again in the sixth with a pair of outs. Given Rodriguez was at 105 pitches to that point, Sox manager Alex Cora elected to go to the bullpen.
— Heath Hembree entered for Rodriguez and got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to strike out to end the sixth.
— Brandon Workman took over in the seventh and immediately ended up in some trouble by allowing a Robinson Chirinos triple to begin the frame. Workman then settled down and got three straight outs — a strikeout and two groundouts — to end the inning without any damage.
— Joe Kelly allowed a hit and struck out two in a scoreless eighth.
— Ryan Brasier pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Pearce got the Red Sox on the board in a big way. After a two-out, bases-empty single from Martinez in the first inning, the 35-year-old stepped to the plate for his first Fenway Park at-bat since being traded to Boston. The righty seized the opportunity by smashing a homer into the Green Monster seats to make it 2-0.
Steve Pearce to-do list:
✔️Hit first home run in a Red Sox uniform pic.twitter.com/D3ytX1x72L— NESN (@NESN) July 9, 2018
— After a quiet stretch of innings as a team at the dish, Martinez gave the Sox a nice cushion heading into the ninth, blasting a three-run shot — his 28th homer of the year — into left field.
No. 28 for No. 28 pic.twitter.com/O7YVu2853I
— NESN (@NESN) July 10, 2018
— Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Martinez and Pearce each had a pair of hits, while Sandy Leon had one.
— All other Red Sox batters went hitless.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Rodriguez has been sharp this season.
Eduardo Rodriguez is the first Red Sox starter with back-to-back outings of 5+ shutout innings and no more than 3 hits allowed since 2013 (Buchholz).
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 10, 2018
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Rangers will meet for Game 2 of the three-game set Thursday evening. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
