If you thought Thursday’s comeback win over the Texas Rangers was impressive, you definitely enjoyed the Boston Red Sox’s 13-2 mashing of the Orioles on Friday night in Baltimore.
The Sox used six home runs in the first five innings to blow this one open early, just 24 hours after hitting five dingers at Fenway Park. This was the first time Boston has hit five or more home runs in back-to-back games since July of 2002, when they did so against the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.
Manager Alex Cora knows a massive display of power like this is rare, but he also knows he has a great offensive club that has underperformed. They’re capable of putting together stretches like this and, ideally, they’ll continue to do so as they make their way back into the American League playoff picture.
“We know we’re good offensively and we haven’t even been close to who we are,” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “And that’s a cool thing. For how bad or inconsistent, whatever you want to call it, we’ve been, we’re in the hunt.”
The Red Sox would love to carry this power surge into next week when they meet the red-hot Minnesota Twins.
Here are some other notes from Friday’s Red Sox-Orioles game:Â
— After Friday’s fifth inning, the Red Sox had hit 11 homers in a 14-inning span.
— Eduardo Rodriguez threw seven innings of one-run ball to pick up his seventh win of the year.
The left-hander threw a season-high 114 pitches in the victory.
— Boston racked up 13 runs on 16 hits.
Every starter but Xander Bogaerts collected at least one hit in the win.
— Christian Vazquez got some action at third base after Rafael Devers exited the game after being hit by a pitch.
— J.D. Martinez picked up an outfield assist, throwing out Trey Mancini as he tried to score from third on a sacrifice fly.
Boston now leads Major League Baseball with 18 outfield assists on the season.
— The Red Sox now have won three straight games.
Game 2 of their three-game series with the Orioles is set for Saturday at 4:05 p.m. ET.
