Adley Rutschman’s first Red Sox homer sparks 9-4 comeback win over Diamondbacks

It took a few games, but Adley Rutschman is beginning to look like the impact trade-deadline addition the Red Sox expected.

Rutschman drove in three runs and launched his first home run in a Red Sox uniform Tuesday night as Boston overcame an early blown lead and pulled away for a 9-4 win over the Diamondbacks at Fenway Park.

The three-time All-Star went 2-for-4 with a walk, opening the scoring with a two-run single in the first before crushing a game-tying solo homer in the third.

The blast left Rutschman’s bat at 107 mph and traveled 401 feet down the right-field line, clearing Pesky’s Pole for his ninth homer of the season.

It was his best game since coming over from Baltimore at the trade deadline.

After going just 1-for-17 with an infield single and nine strikeouts during Boston’s road trip, Rutschman has started to find his timing at Fenway. He has four hits over the first two games of the series, including two for extra bases.

That’s an encouraging development for a player who was activated after just two rehab games with Triple-A Worcester following his stint on the injured list with left wrist inflammation.

Boston needed his big night after a 3-0 lead disappeared in one swing.

The Red Sox jumped on veteran right-hander Merrill Kelly immediately. Nick Sogard singled, Ceddanne Rafaela reached on a bunt single and Wilyer Abreu walked to load the bases in the first.

Rutschman followed with a two-run single into shallow left, and Caleb Durbin’s sacrifice fly made it 3-0.

It looked like Boston might be headed for another runaway win after pounding Arizona 11-1 in Monday’s opener.

Instead, Ranger Suarez gave it all back in the third.

Suarez retired the first two hitters before allowing consecutive soft singles and hitting Corbin Carroll to load the bases. He then fell behind Gabriel Moreno 2-0 and left a sinker over the plate.

Moreno crushed it into the Monster seats for a grand slam, suddenly putting Arizona ahead 4-3.

“Just happened to leave a pitch in hittable area with three guys on base and Moreno capitalized,” Tracy said of Suarez’s third inning on Tuesday night. “But overall, I thought it was good.”

To Boston’s credit, the response was immediate when Rutschman led off the bottom of the inning with his first Red Sox homer to tie it. 

Durbin then singled, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice, stole third and raced home on a Kelly wild pitch to put Boston back ahead, 5-4.

The Red Sox never trailed in the game again. 

Suarez responded with the shutdown inning Boston needed, retiring Arizona in order on just five pitches in the fourth. He settled down after the grand slam and didn’t allow another run.

It was an uneven night, but Suarez pitched into the sixth for the first time since June 29. He allowed four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three over 5 1/3 innings and 93 pitches.

The Red Sox continued giving themselves breathing room as the night went along.

Andruw Monasterio’s RBI single made it 6-4 in the fifth before Mickey Gasper continued his sudden power surge in the sixth.

Gasper went his first 145 plate appearances in a Red Sox uniform without hitting a home run. Now he has two in five plate appearances.

One night after wrapping his first Red Sox homer around Pesky’s Pole, Gasper crushed a Kevin Ginkel offering 414 feet to straightaway center.

“He can hit. I talked plenty about him the last time he was here, particularly from that side of the plate, he’s a really, really good at-bat,” Chad Tracy said of Gasper. “But I’ve said that ad nauseam, even when he was here and he was getting catching reps, like the guy can really hit from that side of the plate.”

Willson Contreras added a broken-bat RBI single later in the inning to extend the lead to 8-4.

Gasper wasn’t finished and continued to swing a hot bat this series.

Jarren Duran singled and stole second in the seventh before Gasper drove him home with another single. Gasper reached base four times from the No. 9 spot, finishing with two hits, two walks and two RBI.

Gasper homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. He has recorded at least one RBI in a career-high three straight games. 

Rutschman and Gasper provided the biggest performances, but the production came from throughout the lineup.

Sogard reached three times with two singles and a walk. Contreras had an RBI single and a double, Monasterio collected two hits and Durbin singled, drove in a run, stole a base and scored.

Boston finished with 13 hits and struck out only three times after not striking out at all Monday.

Through two games against Arizona, the Red Sox have scored 20 runs on 29 hits.

The bullpen also had to navigate the middle innings without Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten, both of whom are sidelined with elbow inflammation.

When Suarez departed with a runner at second and one out in the sixth, Tracy turned to Tyron Guerrero for the right-hander’s first appearance since his disastrous outing in Toronto six days earlier.

Guerrero allowed a single but escaped without allowing a run, then returned for the seventh after Boston extended its lead. He recorded four outs in his first multi-inning appearance since July 24.

Erik Miller handled a scoreless eighth before Wyatt Olds worked the ninth for the second consecutive night.

The Red Sox have begun looking like themselves again.

After dropping seven of nine and three consecutive series, Boston has responded by winning three of its last four. Tuesday’s victory also secured its first series win since sweeping the White Sox from Aug. 4-6.

“We said that early on when it wasn’t going well, that we’re going to have to get things turned around here, turn the season,” interim manager Chad Tracy said following the win. “So actually, to go on the road, not that we wanted to lose games on the road, but have some struggles on the road, and then be able to come back and immediately flip the switch and look like, ‘All right, now this looks like home cooking, and we enjoy playing here,’ that’s a really good sign to protect our home turf. So that’s been welcome, and it was needed.”

The Red Sox are back to 10 games over .500 at 68-58.

They’ll go for the sweep Wednesday afternoon when rookie Payton Tolle (8-6, 2.97 ERA) faces Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (7-1, 3.11 ERA). The first pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET.