Red Sox Wrap: Rafael Devers, James Paxton Lift Boston Past Padres

The Boston Red Sox began their nine-game road trip with a 6-1 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Friday night.

The Red Sox have won eight of their last 10 against the Padres, improving to 25-20 on the season while San Diego fell to 20-25 on the campaign.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
James Paxton was as close to perfect as he could be given it was only his second start in two years. The southpaw pitched six innings allowing one run on five hits, while walking two and striking out five. The one blemish was a solo home run by leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. in the third. The 34-year-old threw 107 pitches, 66 for strikes.

Josh Winckowski pitched the final three innings to secure the win for Paxton. The right-hander struck out two of the nine batters he faced and did not allow a hit.

On the other side of the rubber, Blake Snell didn’t have similar success, as Red Sox hitters tagged the lefty for six runs on five hits. Snell did mirror his counterpart by striking out five and walking two batters.

San Diego pitching only allowed a total of eight hits, but Rafael Devers and Rob Refsnyder got the Red Sox out to a 6-0 lead by the middle of the third inning.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Devers went yard in each of his first two at-bats off Snell. The first was a solo shot in the second and then the third baseman launched his second of the game with two on for a three-run shot. The 26-year-old finished the night 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs and two runs scored. Devers is now slashing .264/.309/.557 on the season.

— Refsnyder had the other two RBIs for the Red Sox when he knocked in Connor Wong and Alex Verdugo with his fourth double of the season. The left fielder finished 1-for-3 at the plate.

— Winckowski shut down the final nine Padres batters in the game. He struck out two and walked one without surrendering a hit for his second save of the season.

WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook set the odds of Devers hitting the first home run of the game at +1100. With his dinger to right field in the second inning, $100 bettors earned a $1200 payout.

ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox will look to win a fourth straight when they continue their three-game series with the Padres on Saturday night. First pitch from Petco Park is scheduled for 10:10 p.m. ET. You can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.