J.D. Martinez hit two three-run homers and knocked in a career-high seven runs and Eduardo Rodriguez tossed seven shutout innings as the Red Sox thumped the San Diego Padres, 11-0.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Red Sox and started their eight-game West Coast road trip.
The Sox led 6-0 after two innings and cruised from there. Rafael Devers added three hits as the Sox pounded out 13 hits.
WHO: Red Sox (68-61) vs. San Diego Padres (59-67)
WHEN: 10:10 p.m.
WHERE: Petco Park
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (14-5, 4.10) vs. RHP Chris Paddack (7-6, 3.44)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
12:18 Hanging breaking ball -- at just 72 mph to boot -- and Martinez hammers it out to LF, giving him his second three-run homer and a career-best seven RBI.
12:04 Two nice defensive plays by the Sox in the bottom of the first - first, Mookie Betts goes to his knees coming in on a sinking liner, and then Brock Holt ranges behind the second base bag to make a diving stop and take away a single from Ty France.
11:49 Rodriguez continues to get bailed out by the double play -- he's induced three in the first four innings.
11:36 It's the fourth inning and already, Martinez has four RBI. Sacrifice fly to left scores Devers.
11:07 Quick exit for Chris Paddack, who is lifted after 2.1 innings; Lefty Robbie Erlin on.
10:58 Rodriguez is doing exactly what you want from a starter who's been given a 6-0 lead -- throwing strikes, having quick innings and getting his team back into the dugout.
10:46 Xander Bogaerts takes a fastball on the edge of the strike zone and slaps it the other into the right field corner scoring Devers and the rout is on.
10:41 Ringing double down the right field for Rafael Devers -- No. 48 on the season -- and the Sox are quickly up 5-0.
10:37 Solid at-bat for Eduardo Rodriguez -- certainly better than the one he had at Dodger Stadium last fall in the World Series. Works through six pitches and finally gets a bunt down, moving runners over.
10:18 Quick strike on the part of J.D. Martinez, who gets a fastball over the middle of the plate and belts it out to left-center. And once more, Eduardo Rodriguez has a plenty of run support.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts CF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez RF
Benintendi LF
Vazquez C
Moreland 1B
Holt 2B
Rodriguez P
PADRES
Margot CF
Mejia C
Machado 3B
Renfroe RF
Hosmer 1B
Myers LF
France 2B
Urias SS
Paddack P
WHAT'S UP: This is the start of an eight-game West Coast road trip for the Red Sox, with three in San Diego, two in Denver and three in Anaheim....It marks the first time the Red Sox have been on the Coast since the first trip of the season, when they went 3-8...After a stretch that saw them play .725 ball (29-11) on the road thereafter, the Sox are just 2-6 in their last eight road games...The Sox are 3-0 in their last three series in San Diego, going 2-1 in 2002, 2007 and 2016....The Sox are just 0-3-1 in interleague series this year, losing to Arizona, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia while splitting with Colorado....The Sox lead the majors in average (.276) and doubles (292) and are in second in on-base percentage (.346) and extra-base hits (515); they're tied for second in runs scored (740); fourth in slugging (.481) and OPS (.827) and fifth in walks (474)….The Red Sox have at least one homer in each of their last 13 games and 25 of their last 26....The Sox are on pace to hit 251 homers, which would break the club record of 238 set in 2003....Over the last six games, the Red Sox bullpen has allowed just three runs in the last 27.1 innings for an ERA of 0.99 while holding opponents to a .413 OPS...They haven't allowed a homer in the last 121 batters faced...Since July 24, the Red Sox own baseball's lowest bullpen ERA (2.81) and lowest batting average against (.201)….The Sox have three of the five players in the American League with a .300 or better average and 25 or more homers: Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez. Minnesota's Nelson Cruz and Houston's Yuli Gurriel are the other two...The Sox have a strong chance of having three players hit 300 or more with 30 or more homers...The last team to do that was the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals...In his last 10 games, Devers is 21-for-45 (.467) with 13 extra-base hits....Mookie Betts has a seven-game hitting streak and leads all of baseball with 116 runs scored...Jackie Bradley Jr. has four homers in his last seven games....Christian Vazquez has a four-game hitting streak and is slashing .322/.364/.532 since Aug. 2...Mitch Moreland is hitting .379 in his last nine games...Eduardo Rodriguez has thrown at last five innings in 20 straight starts...The Sox are 19-5 in his last 24 starts...He leads MLB in run-support with an average of 7.85 runs per start...Manny Machado is 6-for-33 (.182) with six strikeouts against Rodriguez...Eric Hosmer is 3-for-9.....The Sox don't have a single career at-bat against Chris Paddack.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- David Price will not start Sunday in San Diego, as the Sox had hoped. Instead, Price will throw another bullpen Tuesday in Denver and likely start sometime next weekend in Anaheim. Brian Johnson is the likely starter Sumday.
- The Red Sox sent 1b/2b Michael Chavis (shoulder) to begin a rehab appearance with Pawtucket.