Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox bats erupt as benches clear in 10-3 rout of Framber Valdez, Tigers

Are the Red Sox bats finally starting to wake up?

After erupting for five runs in the seventh inning of Monday night’s 5-4 comeback win, Boston’s offense stayed hot Tuesday, hammering Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez for 10 runs, seven earned, on nine hits over just three innings in a commanding 10-3 victory over Detroit.

Ceddanne Rafaela got the Red Sox on the board in the first inning, belting a three-run homer with two outs to give Boston an early 3-0 lead over Tigers left-hander Valdez. It marked the Red Sox’ second three-run homer in as many games.

Boston broke the game open in the third.

After a leadoff walk to Willson Contreras and a strikeout by Wilyer Abreu, the Red Sox rattled off five straight hits against Valdez. Rafaela, Andruw Monasterio, Caleb Durbin, and Connor Wong all drove in runs during the surge as Boston continued to pile on.

Leading off the fourth, Contreras crushed a no-doubt homer, then admired it with a demonstrative bat flip and stare back toward the mound. Moments later, Abreu followed with a left-on-left blast of his own, pushing the Red Sox lead to 10-2 with back-to-back homers.

After Abreu’s shot, tensions boiled over for Valdez, who drilled Trevor Story in the upper back with a 94 mph first-pitch fastball, prompting immediate reactions from both dugouts. Story appeared to believe the pitch was intentional, and crew chief Dan Iassogna agreed, ejecting Valdez after the benches cleared.

“I was in there ready to hit and it showed up way behind me, off the numbers,” Story said. “I think we all know what’s what.

“It’s pretty indisputable,” the veteran shortstop added.

The Red Sox dugout emptied quickly, with Contreras charging out and needing to be restrained by teammates and coaches. 

“They didn’t hesitate,” Tracy said. “They were out there. Nothing escalated. They weren’t happy about it, obviously, but they were there, which was important.”

Detroit’s bench and both bullpens also emptied, though the confrontation never escalated beyond shouting and pushing.

“Yes, I do think (it was intentional),” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters of Valdez plunking Story. “I thought it was weak, and I thought everybody saw it. Their side, our side, I think everybody saw it. And yeah, it was weak.”

“Those are my guys," Story said. "It means a lot to me. Those guys, we’re in this fight every day. We’re like brothers and we spend a lot of time together. It’s always good to see them have your back like that.”

Valdez allowed a career-worst 10 runs, seven earned, on nine hits over three innings, while walking one and striking out three.

“I would have been upset (if Valdez wasn’t ejected),” Tracy said. “I think with the situation, it was fairly obvious, so they did the right thing there. Once he was gone and eliminated from the game, it was like, ‘Let’s just get back to playing baseball.’”

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch on the Valdez, "We play a really good brand of baseball here. That didn't feel like it. I'm not judging intent, but I know when you go out on the field in those confrontations, you usually feel like you're in your right. It didn't feel good being out there."

The pitch that hit Story in the back was the first four-seam fastball that Valdez threw this season. 

"I was trying to use the fastball as a backup plan because I got to do something different against them. Again, it might look like it was on purpose, but it wasn’t,” Valdez said postgame. 

Overall, the Red Sox pounded out 12 hits, drew two walks, and struck out 11 times. Boston also went 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

“It’s been moving, I think pretty good,” Rafaela told reporters of the offense explosion on Tuesday night. “Everybody’s putting together better ABs.”

Offensively, the Red Sox were led by Rafaela, who drove in four runs. Abreu also stayed hot, homering off a left-hander for the first time this season and just the third time in his major league career. Abreu finished with three hits, while Durbin added a two-hit night.

Every Red Sox starter recorded a hit except for the No. 1 hitter, Jarren Duran, and No. 9 hitter, Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Boston went 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position and posted double-digit hits for the second straight game.

Lost amid the offensive outburst was an encouraging performance from Brayan Bello.

The Red Sox used left-hander Jovani Morán as an opener, but he struggled out of the gate, throwing 38 pitches in the first inning and allowing two runs, including a leadoff homer to Matt Vierling.

Bello entered in relief after Morán’s rough opening frame. The right-hander came into the night with a 9.12 ERA but turned in his best outing of the season, tossing a season-high seven innings while striking out a season-best seven batters. Bello allowed just one earned run on four hits and issued only one walk.

It marked the first time all season that Bello did not allow multiple runs in an outing, lowering his ERA to 7.44. His seven-inning relief appearance was the longest by a Red Sox pitcher since Casey Fossum on July 24, 2002.

In the ninth inning, Alec Gamboa made his major league debut and tossed a scoreless frame with his parents emotional in the stands cheering him on. The left-hander struck out the final two batters he faced.

Gamboa became the seventh Red Sox pitcher to make his MLB debut this season, joining Ryan Watson, Tyler Uberstine, Tyler Samaniego, Jack Anderson, Eduardo Rivera, and Jake Bennett. 

With the win, the Red Sox improved to 15-21 and moved to 5-4 under Tracy. Boston will look to sweep the series Wednesday night, when the club is expected to activate Sonny Gray (2-1, 4.30 ERA) off the injured list. He is scheduled to face Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty (0-2, 5.90 ERA). First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m.

Roman Anthony Day-to-Day

Red Sox received some encouraging news on Roman Anthony on Tuesday.

Anthony flew back to Boston to see a hand specialist after injuring his right hand on a swing during Monday night’s 5-4 win over the Tigers. Tracy told reporters before Tuesday’s game that Anthony is dealing with a wrist sprain.

At this point, the outfielder is considered day-to-day and is not expected to be placed on the injured list.

“As of right now, it looks like just a wrist sprain,” Tracy said at Comerica Park. “Outside of that, no update other than to say, right now, day-to-day. There’s nothing imminent as far as an IL (stint), but day-to-day. We’ll assess him over the next couple of days to see how he’s feeling.”

Anthony was removed in the second inning Monday night after his lone at-bat. X-rays taken in Detroit came back negative, but the Red Sox still wanted him evaluated by a specialist in Boston to rule out a more serious injury.

Tracy had expressed hope that Anthony would return to Detroit to rejoin the team, but the outfielder will instead remain in Boston for further evaluation.

“I don’t think, even with the news, he’s going to be in the lineup in the next couple of days,” he added.

Boston returns home Thursday to open a four-game series against the Rays at Fenway Park. Anthony could be back in the lineup by then, though the Red Sox are expected to be cautious with the young outfielder.

“The thing is, even with a sprain, it’s still going to be reactive on how it is feeling, and how is it progressing,” said Tracy. “That's good news, but we still have to see how he feels over the next couple of days. To know that something happened, and we don't see a break, and we don't see any structural [damage] right now. But again, there’s still steps to take to make sure that he feels good and healthy.”

Through 30 games and 109 at-bats this season, Anthony is hitting .229/.354/.321 with one home run and five RBI. Anthony had been showing signs of progress at the plate in the days leading up to the wrist injury. 

Entering Monday night’s game, he had been 5-for-12 (.417) with two doubles, a run, two walks, and just one strikeout in the first three games of the month of May.