Bogaerts Homers Twice As Sox Beat Tribe 10-4
BOSTON – The Red Sox used the long ball to power their way to a 10-4 victory over the Indians Wednesday night.
Xander Bogaerts (2-for-5) homered twice, his 18th and 19th home runs of the season. The shortstop appears poised to set a new career-high in homers after hitting 21 in 2016.
The Sox pounded 14 hits in the win.
Mitch Moreland homered, his 15th of the season. The first baseman went 2-for-4 on the night.
J.D. Martinez went 2-for-4 with two RBI, bringing his major league-leading total to 108.
Jackie Bradley Jr. and Ian Kinsler each added two-hit nights.
The Red Sox burst the game open with a five-run fourth inning. Andrew Benintendi delivered the big blow, a three-run double with two outs.
That hit chased Indians starter Carlos Carrasco from the game. The righty allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Boston starter Brian Johnson went 4 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Sox. They have not lost four games in a row in 2018.
How it happened:
Edwin Encarnacion opened the scoring in the top of the first with a two-run home run off Johnson.
Martinez drove in Benintendi with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the first.
Bogaerts crushed a hanging slider from Carrasco 423-feet over the Green Monster to tie the game in the fourth. Kinsler and Brock Holt recorded back-to-back base hits, then Blake Swihart put Boston in the lead 3-2 with a RBI single.
With the bases loaded and two out, Benintendi sliced a slider down the left field line for a three-RBI double, extending the lead to 6-2 and chasing Carrasco from the game.
Encarnacion hit a two-run homer, his second of the game, off Heath Hembree in the fifth.
Bradley Jr. doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and Bradley at third, Mitch Moreland smashed a home run to right to put the Sox ahead 8-4.
Bogaerts added his second homer of the night in the seventh, a solo shot into the Red Sox bullpen.
Martinez drove in Bradley with an eighth inning RBI single to extend Boston’s lead to 10-4.
Up next:
The Red Sox look for a split of the four-game set in Thursday afternoon’s series finale. David Price (13-6, 3.69 ERA) will take the ball against Indians righty Adam Plutko (4-3, 4.62 ERA).