Relying on the long ball, the Red Sox blasted four homers in the first three innings and cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Texas Rangers, improving to 9-2 on the road this season.
J.D. Martinez belted two -- including a three-run shot in the first -- and Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers added one each.
Nathan Eovaldi overcame aa 28-pitch second inning and limited the Rangers to a solo run on four hits to pick up his fourth win of the season.
WHO: Red Sox (15-10) vs. Texas Rangers (11-15)
WHEN: 8:05 p.m.
WHERE: Globe Life Field
SERIES TO DATE: Texas 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (3-2, 3.77) vs. RHP Kohei Arihara (2-2, 4.03)
TV/RADIO: NESN, WEEI-FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Arroyo 2B
Verdugo CF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Dalbec 1B
Renfroe RF
Cordero LF
RANGERS
Calhoun Lf
Solak 2B
Gallo R
Lowe 1B
Garcia CF
Dahl LF
Kiner-Falefa SS
Holt 3B
Heim C
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: It would seem that Darwinzon Hernandez has figured some things out. Around the strike zone far more regularly and he's overpowering hitters. In the last two games, he's faced seven hitters and struck out six.
B6: Eovaldi really settled down after that long second inning, with just 31 pitches over the last three innings. It would appear that six innings and 91 pitches will be enough for him.
B4: Though he hasn't contributed much at the plate, Hunter Renfroe has shown himself to be a good right fielder. Roamed effortlessly toward the warning track to haul in a fly ball from Holt, then doubled up David Dahl at second.
B3: You could argue that Nathan Eovaldi has been squeezed on a few pitches, but he's not showing the same efficiency he showed on Patriots Day. Thanks mostly to a long second inning, he's already creeping up to almost 60 pitches in the third inning.
T3: Home run derby comes to Texas, as Rafael Devers lined a pitch the other way that just cleared the fence in left.
T3: It's time for the Rangers to experience headaches. Martinez goes deep for a second time. He's seen three pitches and hit two of them out. He has nine homers this year, or, two more than he hit all of last year.
B2: Old friend Brock Holt dumps a single into right, scoring the first Texas run of the evening.
B2: By my rough count, home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn has missed -- conservatively -- a half-dozen pitches in the first couple of innings.
T1: Xander Bogaerts follows up Martinez's blast with a homer of his own -- a line shot over the left field fence on a hanging cutter.
T1: With one swing, J.D. Martinez provides the Red Sox with more runs than they had in the previous two games combined. Martinez snaps an 0-for-9 with his team-high eighth homer of the season.
PRE-GAME STATS: The Red Sox are unbeaten in their last 7 series (4-0-3)...They have won three of their last four games, four of their last six, and 16 of their last 23.....The Sox’ .615 winning percentage is tied with the A’s and Dodgers (both 16-10) for 3rd-best in the majors behind the Royals (.652, 15-8) and Giants (.640, 16-9). The Sox’ +19 run differential ranks 5th in the major...The Sox have a +32 run differential since beginning the season 0-3......Only four Red Sox teams in franchise history have won as many as nine of their first 11 road games (9-2 in 1946, ‘82, ’02, & 2018)....The Sox can match that start with a victory Friday night...The Red Sox’ 2.85 road ERA is second in MLB behind only KC...Over his last nine starts, dating back to last Aug. 20, Nathan Eovaldi is 6-2 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP....Eovaldi hasn't allowed a home run in his last 41.2 innings, the longest active homerless streak in the majors...He has faced 172 batters since allowing his last home run (Austin Meadows, Sept 12)..He's one of three qualified pitchers to not allow a home run in 2021, joined by Kyle Gibson of Texas and Brandon Woodruff of Milwaukee....Over their last four games, Red Sox pitchers have a 1.54 ERA as opponents have hit just .180 against them.....Overall, the Red Sox are fourth in the AL in ERA (3.61).....Rafael Devers is the Devers is the fourth player, age 24 or younger to have 20 or more RBI before May in multiple seasons...The others: Carlos Delgado (1994, ‘96), B.J. Upton (2007-08), and Bryce Harper (2016-17)....Red Sox starters have gone five or more innings in 20 of the team's first 26 games, including the last five in a row...In that stretch, the starters have a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 35-4....Boston starters have allowed one or no earned runs in each of the last 3 games....Nate Lowe is 1-for-3 lifetime against Eovaldi while Brock Holt is 4-for-12....Darwinzon Hernandez is unscored upon in five road appearances this season.
NOTES:
- Franchy Cordero returned to the lineup after sitting the last three. He's been struggling mightily. "There's a few things that he's going through,'' said Alex Cora. "I think the most important thing is controlling the strike zone. He's been expanding up, expanding down. He's in a bad place, let's be honest - late on fastballs, out in front of off-speed pitches. (Thursday), he had a great BP session here. He was hitting line drives to left-center. But we have to go to the game, recognize pitches in the zone and put good swings on them. He put in the work the last three or four days. Hopefully, today is the beginning of something good.''
- Kike Hernandez is getting the night off, but Cora said he's not thinking about replacing him in the leadoff spot despite an OBP of .271. "No, we're good,'' he said. "One of the things he needs to do is get on base against lefties. The last few days, he's done a good job not swinging at bad pitches. We like the fact that he's controlling the strike zone. He went the other way in New York. We saw it in spring training -- he was able to hit line drives and control the strike zone. Right now, he's been on and off.''
- Garrett Whitlock, who's yet to allow a run in the big leagues in his first month, said: "I just try to be a good rookie. Like I told Will (Venable, bench coach), 'Shoot, I'll be the janitor on this team if it means I get to be in the big leagues.' ''
- Cora said he's unsure if his team is going to clear the 85 percent threshold necessary for MLB to relax health and safety protocols on the road (no masks required in bullpen and dugout, ability to eat in restaurants, to have vaccinated family members visit, etc.).
- J.D. Martinez, who came out of the game late Thursday night because of a migraine headache was expected to be sidelined until Saturday, but was back in the lineup Friday night. Martinez is in the midst of a mini-slump (0-for-9).