The Red Sox continued to roll on the road, taking a 10-4 decision from the Colorado Rockies, giving them a 3-1 trip and their fifth win in the last six tries away from home.
The Sox built a 6-0 lead thanks to the long ball as Jackie Bradley Jr. (solo), Christian Vazquez (two-run shot) and Xander Bogaerts (solo) all went deep. The Sox extended their streak of hitting at least one homer in 17 straight games.
Rick Porcello allowed two runs over five innings for his 12th win of the season.
The Rockies used two two-run homers in the final two innings off Josh Smith to make the score more respectable.
WHO: Red Sox (70-62) vs. Colorado Rockies (59-73)
WHEN: 8:40
WHERE: Coors Field
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 1-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Rick Porcello (11-10, 5.49) vs. RHP Rico Garcia (MLB debut)
TV/RADIO: NESN/93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:45 Once again, a very Darwinzon-like inning: two strikeouts, a walk and a base hit. But he escapes, stranding two.
10:32 Really hard to understand what Chris Owings is doing in the major leagues right now.
10:21 Nolan Arenado doubles off the glove of Rafael Devers and the Rockies have two in and two in scoring position. This is Porcello's first jam of the night.
9:50 Batting practice continues for the Red Sox -- Xander Bogaerts goes deep to CF for No. 28 and Brock Holt -- with some help from a confused Colorado outfielder -- drops an opposite-field double on the warning track in left-center, scoring Mitch Moreland. Five of the nine Red Sox hitters have extra-base hits.
9:41 Unlike Bradley's homer, which was a tape-measure shot, Christian Vazquez just barely clears the wall for a two-run shot, doubling the Sox' lead to 4-0.
9:36 This is Rick Porcello's best start in some time. He's working quickly, getting ahead and showing a good pitch mix with an effective curveball - somewhat surprising since it's tough to command a breaking ball in the thin air of Colorado.
9:08 Jackie Bradley Jr. smokes a ball deep into the third deck in right. That's his fifth homer in the last 10 games and also extends the Red Sox' string to 17 straight games with at least one homer. That's the longest homer of Bradley's career and the longest for any Red Sox player this year at 478 feet.
8:57 Charlie Blackmon doubles high off the fence in RF and Mookie Betts plays the carom well, but doesn't get much on the throw, allowing Blackmon to slide in safely.
8:42: Quick lead for the Red Sox, who use a walk, a groundout and an opposite-field single from J.D. Martinez to grab a 1-0 lead four batters in.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts CF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts 3B
Martinez LF
Moreland 1B
Holt 2b
Vazquez C
Bradley CF
Porcello P
ROCKIES
Blackmon RF
Story SS
Arenado 3B
Murphy 1B
McMahon 2b
Desmond LF
Hilliard CF
Wolters C
Garcia P
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox are 7-3 in the last 10 games...The Sox have homered in 16 straight games, the third-longest streak in franchise history, and have at least one homer in 28 of the last 29 games...The Sox have won four of their last five road games and are ranked fifth in road winning percentage in MLB, at .563 (36-28)….The two teams split a two-game series at Fenway back in May, with both games going to extra innings....The Sox are 42-17 (.712) in their last 59 interleague games, but this season are just 5-8....Over the last nine games, the Red Sox bullpen has allowed just five runs in 40.1 innings (1.12)…..Boston's relievers have pitched an MLB-best 2.65 ERA since July 24....Reliever Brandon Workman in best opponents batting average (.125), best slugging (.177) and OPS (.438)...Overall, he's 9-1 with eight save and an ERA of 2.02 and a WHIP of 1.02 while averaging 12.72 strikeouts per nine innings....The Sox lead the majors in batting average (.276) and doubles (297) while ranking second in OBP (.346) and extra-base hits (524) and third in runs (757) and fourth in OPS (.825)….Rafael Devers leads the majors in hits (171), extra-base hits (78), doubles (48) and total bases (306)...Thirteen of the last 18 hits for Mookie Betts have gone for extra-bases (10 doubles, two homers, one triple)….He also leads MLB in runs scored with 118, 12 more than anyone else....He is also on pace to score 144 runs...The Sox have been charged with just eight errors in the last 24 games, tied for the lowest figure for an AL club in that span....Xander Bogaerts is ranked among the AL Top 10 in the following categories: doubles, extra-base hits, RBI, runs, hits, average, slugging and OPS....Jackie Bradley Jr. is 0-for-9 but also has four homers in his last nine games...Brock Holt has a three-game hitting streak....Devers is 0-for-11...Mitch Moreland has hit safely in four straight games and is hitting .315 over his last 17 games...J.D. Martinez has a four-game hitting streak with eight RBI in those four games...He's also knocked in 32 RBI in his last 31 games...In four starts this month, Rick Porcello has limited opposing hitters to a .198 batting average, but also had a 4.09 ERA in that stretch....This is his first start vs Colorado since 2014 and his first in Denver since 2011....The Sox are 6-3 in Porcello's last nine starts...Daniel Murphy is 5-for-9 with a homer lifetime against Porcello while Ian Desmond is 3-for-6.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- OF Andrew Benintendi sat Tuesday night, still battling a sore left side. He could be available off the bench in the series finale. He first felt some tightness in the area with a swing Sunday afternoon in San Diego. The Sox are hopeful that he can be back in the lineup Friday in Anaheim.
- David Price threw a simulated game Tuesday at Coors Field and reported that he felt good. Price could start come off the IL and return to the rotation this weekend against the Angels.