Jackie Bradley Jr and the Boston Red Sox on Saturday finished their high-scoring April with another big night at the plate.
Bradley tripled twice and drove in three runs and David Ortiz homered again as the Red Sox blanked the struggling New York Yankees 8-0.
Mookie Betts also had three RBIs for the Red Sox, who shut out the Yankees at home for the first time since 2011. Boston had not beaten New York by eight or more runs in a shutout at Fenway Park since 1973.
Photo: Greg M. Cooper - USA TODAY
The Red Sox were yesterday looking to sweep the three-game series when new ace David Price got his first regular-season taste of the longtime rivalry.
Boston are not just piecing runs together. The Red Sox are scoring in bunches and hitting the ball hard. Bradley also doubled on Saturday in addition to his triples.
“I think it just makes for a longer run,” Bradley said, joking about his triples. “It’s always good. That means you’re put in a good place usually when you’re able to get triples.”
Rick Porcello (5-0) had six strikeouts and gave up five hits in seven innings to tie for the MLB lead in wins.
Porcello has pitched at least six innings in each of his last 13 starts since coming off the disabled list in August last year. That is the longest such streak of his career and the longest active streak in the majors.
“I felt like my sinker was actually a little sporadic the first two innings,” Porcello said. “I kind of found a groove with it, settled in.”
The Yankees managed five hits. Michael Pineda (1-3) took the loss, allowing two runs and five hits in five innings.
New York have dropped four straight and 12 of 16. In their last four losses, the Yankees have been outscored 25-5.
This defeat marked their second four-game skid this season.
The lack of production is not going unnoticed in the locker room.
“It’s frustrating,” Brett Gardner said. “I feel like we have a good team, a good offensive unit... Right now, things obviously are going more wrong than right.”
Boston entered the night leading the American League with 5.13 runs per game, and the bats did not show any signs of slowing down.
Pineda had won his previous three starts at Fenway Park, giving up just one earned run in each victory. That changed in the second inning when Betts dropped in a little flare down the right-field line for a double that scored Christian Vazquez and Bradley.
Boston scored twice in the sixth. Ortiz added the fifth home run of his farewell season — and second in two nights against the Yankees — in the seventh, taking Johnny Barbato’s fastball over the right-field fence.
“We had a number of good at-bats up and down the lineup,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “There’s not one guy that’s looking to be the hero on a given night. It’s a unit the way it’s functioning right. So we stay with that approach that should pay good dividends.”
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Mets 6, Giants 5
‧ Nationals 6, Cardinals 1
‧ Tigers 4, Twins 1
‧ Athletics 2, Astros 0
‧ Rays 4, Blue Jays 3
‧ Red Sox 8, Yankees 0
‧ Pirates 5, Reds 1
‧ White Sox 8, Orioles 7
‧ Phillies 4, Indians 3
‧ Marlins 7, Brewers 5
‧ Rangers 7, Angels 2
‧ Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 2
‧ Padres 5, Dodgers 2
‧ Mariners 6, Royals 0
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