MIAMI - En route to their fourth straight win, the Red Sox broke their bats out of their spring slumber, pounding out 12 hits in bludgeoning the Miami Marlins, 7-2. The seven runs were more than the Sox had managed in their previous three wins against Tampa Bay.
Boston got homers from Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts and every position player except Jackie Bradley Jr. (two walks) collected at least one hit.
Brian Johnson became the fifth straight Red Sox starter to limit the opposition to one or no runs, giving up six hits and one run in six innings.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Miami Marlins
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Marlins Park
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Brian Johnson vs. RHP Trevor Richards
WHERE THINGS STAND: The Sox took 3-of-4 from the Rays in St. Petersburg over the weekend, winning the final three games of the series after blowing a four-run, eighth-inning lead in the opener. The Marlins split a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs at home.
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:43: Marcus Walden on for the eighth. Guy waits 11 years to make his major league debut, and now, he's pitching for the second straight day.
9:35: Leading off the eighth with a single to center, Xander Bogaerts has a two-hit night and now has four multiple-hit games in the first five games of the season.
9:21: Heath Hembree on, replacing Johnson, who becomes the fifth straight Boston starter to allow no more than a single run in his first start of the season.
9:15: Mookie Betts goes deep -- a solo shot into the Marlins' bullpen -- and the Sox now lead 6-1. Two homers in the last three innings for the Sox, or, as many as they managed to hit in four games in their first series
9:08: This is almost certainly it for Johnson. He's at 80 pitches and he leads off the Red Sox' seventh. He's more than done his job.
8:43: Old friend Junichi Tazawa replaces Richards. And because this is the National League, we get a double-switch as a bonus: Tomas Telis replaces Bryan Holoday behind the plate and will hit ninth, with Tazawa eighth.
8:42 Hanley Ramirez, who spent seven seasons here and calls Miami his home, crushes a slider into the Marlins' bullpen, points to some family/friends sitting in RF, as he rounds first. With Benintendi aboard, it's a two-run shot and Sox lead 5-1.
8:37: An excuse-me check swing from Benintendi results in a chopper toward first and he beats it out for his first hit of the season, snapping an 0-for-13.
8:29 Nunez again can't get to a ball, as Cameron Maybin sends a curveball up the middle. Nunez got a glove on it to slow it down, but seems pretty limited in his range for now.
8:19 Another strong at-bat from Vazquez, who fights off a tough slider and lines it over the head of Anderson at third for a two-run double. First lead of the night for the Red Sox.
8:15 And still more good fortune for the Sox. Eduardo Nunez pulls a ball that hits the third-base bag, kicks past Brian Anderson and rolls into the left-field corner for a run-scoring double.
8:12 Xander Bogaerts just topped a slow roller that somehow stayed fair, traveling almost 90 feet toward third, inches from the foul line. When you're going well, that stays fair. When you're slumping, it hits a pebble and crosses into foul territory.
8:05 Appeared as thought Bogaerts was a little casual in feeding a throw to Nunez for an inning-ending forceout at second. Had Starlin Castro, jogging into second, slid into the bag, he might have been safe.
8:04 Red Sox had Eduardo Nunez shifted up the middle, but Nunez could only knock down a bouncer behind second, and the Marlins have loaded the bases with two outs.
7:51 With runners at first and second, Andrew Benintendi gets ahead 2-and-0, but after Richards evens the count, gets Benintendi to foul out to third, making him 0-for-13 this season.
7:44 He's probably happy to have a teammate on base, but Brian Johnson, who had been bragging about his ability to swing and recounting some success he had as a hitter at Florida, didn't get a chance to swing away and was put in bunt mode. He then fouls off a third bunt attempt and strikes out.
7:42 Red Sox seemed a bit too aggressive early against Trevor Richards, making his major league debut. But last AB had Vazquez working the at-bat a bit before lining an opposite-field single to right on the seventh pitch he saw.7
7:31 Marlins third baseman Brian Anderson gets a four-seamer on the outside half of the plate and drills it to right, over the Red Sox bullpen for his first career homer.
7:18 One pitch in, and Brian Johnson sets some help from the Marlins. As Lewis Brunson attempts to get a bunt down, the ball hits him in front of the plate, he gets in the way of catcher Christian Vazquez and is called out on batter's interference.
LINEUPS:
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Ramirez 1B
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Nunez 2B
Bradley CF
Vazquez C
Johnson P
MARLINS
Brinson CF
Dietrich LF
Castro 2B
Anderson 3B
Bour 1B
Maybin RF
Rojas SS
Holaday C
Richards P
NEWS AND NOTES:
- The roof at Marlins Park is open --a rarity here. But the weather is mild enough that they can do it early in the season.
- Drew Pomeranz threw five innings in Fort Myers Monday afternoon.
- Tyler Thornburg was scheduled to throw, but delayed that until Tuesday because of a stiff neck.
- Eduardo Rodriguez is set to throw six innings Tuesday, and after that, will probably make his next start for a minor league affiliate somewhere in anticipation of rejoining the major league rotation soon after that.
- Steven Wright threw a bullpen Sunday in Fort Myers and is set to throw again Wednesday. He responded well after getting a PRP (plasma-rich platelet) injection last week.
- No one was happier to leave St. Petersburg more than Eduardo Nunez, who played three games on the hard artificial turf surface at Tropicana Field. That's difficult for any player, especially one who is still recovering from a troublesome knee injury. "I love to leave to Tampa,'' said Nunez laughing. "That turf is tough. I couldn't handle that all the time.'' Nunez is learning how to play at something less than 100 percent intensity until the knee is 100 percent recovered and fully strengthened. "There's a process,'' he said, "of playing a little more safely, (knowing) when to push it and when not. I'm used to playing 100 every day, all the time. Now, I have to learn how to pick my spots. Sometimes you think you can force that double, but you have to be (satisfied) at first base. Or you think you can steal second and third, but you have to stay. It's a little frustrating.'' But Nunez is "100 percent" convinced that the knee will stronger as time goes on and he continues to get treatment. "It's just about giving me time and trusting the process.''