Mookie Betts homered twice over the first two innings and drove in five runs on Wednesday night, and Eduardo Rodriguez won his 17th game on the mound as the Boston Red Sox cruised to a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park.
Betts took the first pitch of the night from Minnesota starter Jose Berrios in the bottom of the first inning over the monster in left center field to quickly make it 1-0. The reigning American League MVP then supplied the rest of the offense Boston needed in the second inning after Christian Vazquez had singled and Jackie Bradley Jr. walked. Betts hammered the first pitch again from Berrios in almost the same exact spot in left center for a three run homer to make it 4-0.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez (17-5) was cruising through his outing on the hill allowing no runs on five hits and striking out eight in 7.0 innings. He did walk four batters. Boston is now 42-13 in his last 55 starts. The Red Sox (75-64) extended the lead when Vazquez doubled in a run, and Betts got his fifth RBI with a single both in the sixth inning for a 6-0 advantage. Eddie Rosario hit a two run homer off Ryan Brasier in the eighth to supply the only runs of the night for 86-53 Minnesota.
Betts ended up with four hits on the night, while Brock Holt and Vazquez added a pair each. Brandon Workman got his 11th save. Rosario, Miguel Sano, and C.J. Cron each had two hits for the Twins. Berrios (11-8) allowed six runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings to take the loss. The two teams will wrap up the three game series with the rubber game Thursday night at 7:10 p.m. Nathan Eovaldi against Martiz Perez is the scheduled pitching matchup.
Mookie Betts leads off third base in a game at Fenway Park earlier this season against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Betts had a pair of homeruns and five runs knocked in on Wednesday night to help the Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins. Photo courtesy of Delaney Gardner
