Rafael Devers had a career-high eight RBI between the sixth and eighth innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 19-5 win over the visiting Baltimore Orioles in the first game of a Friday day-night doubleheader.
The Red Sox untied a 2-2 game in the midst of a five-run sixth inning, which Devers (4-for-6) punctuated with a three-run home run. The doors were not blown off, though, until all nine Boston batters came to the plate twice in a 13-run eighth.
The second turn through the lineup in the eighth included Devers hitting a grand slam off Orioles’ position player Emmanuel Rivera, who allowed eight runs and eight hits in 13 batters faced. Twelve of Boston’s 20 total hits came in the big inning, which saw six players reach base twice.
After a Jarren Duran double and Devers single plated the first two runs, Rob Refsnyder boosted his 3-for-5, four-RBI effort with a three-run homer over the Green Monster before adding an RBI single later in the same frame.
Carlos Narvaez and Nick Sogard each reached three-hit games with two in the eighth.
In the fifth inning, the Red Sox lost third baseman Alex Bregman to right quad tightness.
Five Orioles also had multiple hits, with four of their 14 coming after the Red Sox trotted out their own position player on the mound in Abraham Toro in the ninth. Jackson Holliday went 2-for-5 with two RBI from the leadoff spot.
In the game-changing sixth, four hits in a five-batter span allowed the Red Sox to turn around a 2-1 deficit. The rally began with Sogard hitting a one-out double off Orioles reliever Seranthony Dominguez (2-1), who recorded just one out in immediate relief of Cade Povich.
After Kristian Campbell walked, back-to-back singles by Ceddanne Rafaela and Duran plated runs in advance of the first Devers homer. Duran’s knock to center with runners on the corners flipped the score.
Povich allowed just four hits and one run while striking out six across the first five innings.
Boston starter Brayan Bello threw just four innings. Garrett Whitlock (3-0) pitched two innings of scoreless, one-hit relief — the sixth and seventh — to earn the win.
Both defenses made outstanding plays in the second inning to keep the game scoreless. Boston center fielder Rafaela helped Bello through a 1-2-3 top of the frame, diving into the right-center field triangle to take an extra-base hit away from Ramon Urias.
In the bottom half, Baltimore right fielder Heston Kjerstad returned the favor with a catch against the right-field wall on a possible Carlos Narvaez home run.
Kjerstad’s play set the table for the Orioles taking a 2-0 lead in their next at-bats. Kjerstad opened a string of three straight hits, scoring on Holliday’s ground ball single to right.
–Field Level Media
