The Boston Red Sox put together the complete effort manager Alex Cora had been looking for Wednesday night at Fenway Park, and it led to a dominant 20-8 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
“We needed it,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said on a postgame video conference. “We put ourselves in a situation to win the series tomorrow against them.”
Xander Bogaerts added: “Definitely a night that a lot of us were looking forward to. The offense exploded, the pitchers threw a good game — at the end there it was really unfortunate for (Phillips) Valdez. … But as far as the offense, it was nice to see everyone pitch in.”
The Red Sox scored a season-high 20 runs on 19 hits — one home run, two triples and seven doubles — and contributions came from just about everyone as nine players recorded at least one. It was the 18th time in franchise history the Red Sox scored 20 or more runs and the first time since 2015, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.
“It’s a great win for us,” starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi said. “They’re in first place right now, we’re coming after them, and tonight is a big win for us.”
Here are some other notes from Red Sox-Rays:
— Cora credited the offense’s production with runners in scoring position — the Red Sox were .500 with RISP (12-for-24) on Wednesday — as a key factor in the win. It was something Boston has been struggling with of late.
“… You take a look at everything that’s going on and this whole thing with men in scoring position, it has to change, right? It has to come back to normal,” Cora said. “And I’m not saying we’re going to hit .400, but we’re not going to hit .180. We started off well with Nate setting the tempo, Hunter (Renfroe) going the other way right away with a man on second and just kept rolling.”
— Eovaldi delivered a crucial bounce-back start.
The right-hander went seven innings and allowed just one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts. It was the fifth time this season Eovaldi has pitched seven or more innings.
“I had a lot better command,” Eovaldi said. “My splitter felt really good tonight, curveball felt really good. We were mixing it up, used the cutter towards the end a lot more. Like I said, when we’re attacking the zone good things happen.”
— J.D. Martinez was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs and three runs scored. It was the fourth time this season Martinez had four hits and the second time in the last week.
— Hunter Renfroe, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs, is getting hot again. The Red Sox outfielder now has 14 extra-base hits in the his last 18 knocks, per Red Sox Notes. Six of those have went for home runs.
— It was a good night for everyone besides relief pitcher Phillips Valdez, who allowed two home runs including one grand slam as Tampa Bay scored seven runs in the ninth inning.
— Chris Sale was back in the Boston dugout Wednesday. The left-hander is set to take the mound Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles and Eovaldi is among those looking forward to it.
“It’s going to be great to have him come back Saturday and honestly I could care less if he gives you 10 or if he goes shutout the entire game,” Eovaldi said. “it’s going to be great to have him out there.”
— The Rays currently lead the Red Sox by four games in the American League East heading into Thursday’s series finale. You can watch the game live on NESN with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. ET and Red Sox starter Tanner Houck on the mound.
