The Boston Red Sox scored six runs in both the first and sixth innings en route to a 14-2 win over the visiting Chicago White Sox to open a three-game series on Tuesday night.
Seven Boston batters logged multi-hit games highlighted by Wilyer Abreu cracking two long homers, Caleb Durbin punctuating the opening frame with a grand slam and Willson Contreras recording RBI singles and scoring in both big innings.
Jarren Duran also went deep and left-handed starter Patrick Sandoval (1-0) pitched five-plus innings for the Red Sox, who have won six straight and 15 of 18 since the All-Star break. Brayan Bello recorded the final 10 outs for a save.
Boston hit a season-high four homers for the second straight game, including three off Chicago starter Davis Martin (9-6), who allowed a career-high nine runs on 10 hits across five innings.
The Red Sox showed no signs of a hangover from their weekend sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, sending all nine men to the plate during a six-run first.
Nick Sogard banged a leadoff double off the Green Monster and Ceddanne Rafaela was hit by a pitch. After an Abreu fly ball moved Sogard to third, Contreras’ line-drive single drove in the first run.
Masataka Yoshida continued the line with another base hit before Durbin’s big swing to left center extended the score to 5-0. Duran made it back-to-back jacks with a solo shot over the bullpens.
Chicago got traffic on the basepaths in every inning against Sandoval, but he escaped without any damage done until the fifth. The Boston southpaw stranded the bases loaded after Randal Grichuk’s leadoff double and a two-out single and walk in the fourth.
In the fifth, the White Sox nabbed their first run on a Miguel Vargas sacrifice fly before Sandoval induced an inning-ending double play. Abreu got that run right back for the Red Sox a half-inning later, depositing another solo homer out to deep center with one out.
The White Sox turned consecutive walks into another run on Braden Montgomery’s RBI grounder in the sixth. Reliever Erik Miller, making his Boston debut after being acquired from the San Francisco Giants at Monday’s deadline, entered the game and struck out pinch hitter Tristan Peters to end the threat.
It became a laugher during the six-run sixth that Andruw Monasterio sparked with a two-run single up the middle to score Durbin (walk) and Duran (single). Three batters later, Rafaela’s double drove home two more before a Contreras single and Yoshida double concluded the scoring.
