Red Sox Notes: Alex Bregman Rules Night To Turn Tides For Boston

The Red Sox got embarrassed Monday night to start their series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Boston saw much better looks in starting pitching, defense and run-scoring Tuesday night with a 7-4 victory.

The Red Sox needed a jolt from their stars and their $120 million third baseman answered the call. Alex Bregman put together an exceptional night with his first career five-hit game while he swatted two home runs.

“It felt good,” Bregman told NESN’s Jahmai Webster postgame. “Obviously, a lot of hard work before the game in the cage. … It paid off today. Super thankful for (our hitting coaches).”

Bregman excelled with better production from the top of the lineup around him. Jarren Duran slapped his first home run of the season with an opposite-field blast while Rafael Devers doubled and scored a run. The top three hitters for the Red Sox combined to go 7-for-13 with six runs driven in to kickstart the victory.

“We put some good swings,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “There were certain guys that we felt were in between and today they swung with conviction. I like a lot of things that happened offensively today. Obviously, Alex with the big night. We made some adjustments and we executed today.”

“I think we have five, six, seven guys that can have a day like Bregman had today and win us a game,” Walker Buehler told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “That’s kind of what you’re looking for is that depth. Not depth in terms of getting a hit today. Depth in terms of taking over a game. We’ve got five, six or seven of those guys. Once we get guys in form, I think you’ll see stuff like that a little more often.”

Bregman’s standout game marked the start of a special few days as the Red Sox star heads back to Boston for the birth of his second child with his wife, Reagan, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne.

Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Rays game:

— The Red Sox turned in a pleasant performance with the gloves and did not commit an error Tuesday night.

“It’s very important,” Cora said. ”I know yesterday, I said what I said. We always prepare. We feel like we can win every game. It’s not going to happen, but clean baseball, we take pride on that. We haven’t done it over the course of the last 10 days. Today, it was a good one.”

— Buehler continued his improvement on the mound with five innings of two-run ball with three walks and three strikeouts and earned the win. The Red Sox starter gave himself a “B-minus” for the outing.

“He was good,” Cora said. “Battled with command. The walks put him in a bad spot, but made pitches when he had to. Limited the damage.”

“Big win for us, especially after last night,” Buehler said.

— Boston can get back to .500 against the American League East this season with a win in the series finale against the Rays Wednesday night.

— Kristian Campbell’s impressive on-base streak to begin his MLB career came to an end with an 0-for-5 night in the win.

— The Red Sox and Rays close out the three-game set Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.