Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers combine for 8 hits as Red Sox sweep the Cardinals

The Red Sox have now won five in a row and have swept the Cardinals after walloping St. Louis 18-7 in Game 2 of the doubleheader.

Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman led the Red Sox offensive attack, combining for eight hits, six runs, and nine RBI.

Devers has quickly erased his horrendous start, where he began the season 0-for-19 in his first five games. Since then, Devers has hit in five straight games, going 10-for-19 (.529) with three doubles, a homer, seven RBI, five walks, eight runs, and a 1.467 OPS.

In the fifth inning, Devers just missed his second homer of the day, tattooing the top of the Green Monster in left center. Devers went 4-for-4 with a walk and set a career high in runs scored with four. Arguably the Sox’ hottest hitter has now recorded four or more hits in a game for the 14th time of his career.

“We’re getting there now,” Alex Cora said. “The at-bats are really good. Little by little, the swing is getting back to normal. That was impressive.”

Bregman had a four-hit night of his own; he was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. The Sox’ third baseman had a single, two doubles, and a homer while knocking in six runs, tying a career high.

“It was great; we put up good at-bats,” said Cora. “We knew both teams were short, as far as the pitching. We put pressure on their starter and scored runs early; it was going to put us in a good spot.”

Boston’s offense had 22 hits on the night and has now scored 44 runs in their last four games. The Sox’ nine doubles were the most in the big leagues this season and the most since they recorded 10 doubles against the Yankees back in 2019.

HUNTER DOBBINS FIRST BIG LEAGUE WIN

Hunter Dobbins made his Major League debut and earned the win after giving the Red Sox five strong innings, where he allowed two runs off eight hits.

The first inning was somewhat turbulent due to the 25-year-old pitcher's nervousness. The Cardinals had a couple of hard-hit doubles from Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan and a walk that led to a run, but was able to settle down after a perfectly executed pickoff that led to an out at third base.

“That was great,” said Cora. “Credit to the group too; Ramon (Vazquez) put the call on the pick at second (base), and we were able to execute it. After that he was able to breathe; they had him on the ropes in the first inning.

“For a kid to come here, first and second, with a lot of things going on, to execute that play, it tells you a lot about him. The stuff was great; he started mixing up his curveball and had them off-balance. I don’t know if this is the most pitches he’s ever made in a start; we need all of them.”

Beyond earning the win, Dobbins helped preserve the bullpen, Brennan Bernardino threw a scoreless inning while recording one strikeout, and Cooper Criswell collected his first save, pitching three innings and giving up five runs (four earned) off five hits with a walk.

“It’s not every day you get to have your big league debut, let alone at Fenway Park,” said Dobbins. “The best part was growing up in Texas, an Astros fan, having Alex Bregman behind me at third base.”

WILYER ABREU SHOWS OFF CANNON IN RIGHT FIELD

Wilyer Abreu is another one of the Red Sox hitters swinging a white-hot bat. While he went 2-for-6 with a double and three RBI in the second game of the day, he also recorded his second assist of the season.

With the Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar on first with one out in the third, Contreras sizzled a grounder into right field. Nootbaar decided to try and go from first to third; he underestimated Abreu’s throwing arm in right and unleashed a strong throw to beat the hustling Cards’ runner at third base.

Abreu, the reigning American League Gold Glove winner, led all right fielders with nine assists last season.

His offensive contributions shouldn’t go unnoticed, as Abreu has opened the season hitting .483 when there was a chance that he could have opened on the injured list after battling a gastrointestinal issue.

“I felt confident when I left spring training that I was healthy and ready to have a very good season,” Abreu said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “Obviously this is way better than I expected.”

Cora wanted to give Abreu the afternoon game off due to dealing with “heavy legs.”

“The idea is to stay healthy the whole season,” Abreu said. “My legs were a little bit tired, so it was the best decision for me to not start the first game. But besides that, I feel very good.”

Abreu is clicking on all cylinders, including using the opposite field, where he walked off the Cardinals in the afternoon game.

“Try to use the whole field,” Abreu said. “It’s a huge help — even more here at Fenway when we try to use the Monster to our advantage. If I’m able to do that consistently, it’s going to be a very good year for me."

CARLOS NARVÁEZ MAKING A CASE FOR PLAYING TIME

Earlier in the day, Cora told reporters that Carlos Narváez would play at least twice per week. He’s making the case to see even more time as Connor Wong continues to look anemic at the plate.

Narváez went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, an RBI, and one walk. His first double came in the second inning, and later he came around to score. He added a second double to left in the sixth and has recorded at least one hit in each of the four games he’s played this season.

RED SOX NOTABLES

Jarren Duran went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, a double, and two RBI. He finished 3-for-10 between both games on Sunday. Duran did have some issues out in left field in the fourth inning, struggling to track a ball near the grandstand wall.

Ceddanne Rafaela quietly had a big night at the plate, recording three hits (3-for-4) with three runs scored, a walk, and two RBI all out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order.

Kristian Campbell was 1-for-4 and in the process became the third Red Sox player under the age of 22 to reach base safely in their first 10 career games. The only other two players to achieve that milestone were George Scott and Ted Williams; that’s not bad company.

WHAT'S ON TAP?

The Toronto Blue Jays come to town on Monday to begin a four-game series. Boston will send right-pitcher Richard Fitts (1-0, 4.50 ERA) to the mound to face Toronto left-hander Easton Lucas (1-0, 0.00 ERA). 

The rainout on Saturday afternoon slightly disrupted the Sox's rotation. Boston opted to push Fitts to Monday, pushing the rest of the rotation back a day. Garrett Crochet will start on Tuesday, Tanner Houck on Wednesday, and Walker Buehler on Thursday.