The Boston Red Sox are in full swing on this road trip.
The club took a series win from the Cleveland Guardians and brought that momentum north of the border against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night. The Red Sox mashed five home runs, including two in the first inning from Jarren Duran and Alex Bregman, to cruise to a 10-2 victory at Rogers Centre.
Kristian Campbell, Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu all joined in on the fun with home run swings on the night. The Red Sox flexed their power, but more importantly to Alex Cora, they put the ball in play and strung together quality at-bats.
“When we strike out more than 10 times, the record indicates that we don’t win games,” Cora told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “When we strike out less than that, it’s tougher for the opposition. People can say whatever they want about strikeouts. If you strike out 15 times, the defense (won’t) have to make plays… I think the guys understand how we feel about it. It’s part of it, I know that, but not in bunches. Hopefully we can get better at that.”
The Red Sox had major issues cashing in with runners in scoring position in the first week or so of the season. Now, Boston’s been a terrific situational hitting team to drive home runners at an improved clip.
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“Slowing the game down, trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Bregman told NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “Not trying to do too much, been fortunate to have a lot of guys on base. Early in the year, we were pressing a bit, weren’t coming through. We’ve kind of taken a deep breath and started playing better baseball.”
Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:
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— The Red Sox extended their MLB-best run of three-run home runs this season. Abreu’s three-run blast marked the 12th of the year for Boston.
— Bregman extended his hit streak to nine games with an OPS just south of 1.200.
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— Garrett Crochet responded from a rough outing (for his standards) against the Seattle Mariners. The lefty tossed seven strong innings with just two runs allowed off a home run from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the win. His ERA sits at 2.05.
— Duran had another hit robbed on a memorable catch from Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho.
— The Red Sox and Blue Jays continue their three-game series at Rogers Centre Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 7:07 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
Featured image via John E. Sokolowski/Imagn Images
