Kike Hernandez tripled and hit a two-run homerun Wednesday night, and Eduardo Rodriguez didn’t allow any runs over five innings as the Boston Red Sox ended a five game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
JD Martinez put Boston (64-45) up early in a game they never trailed, with a solo homerun in the top of the second inning. Hernandez then cranked a two-run shot and Jarren Duran followed with a solo homer in the fifth to make it back to back and a 4-0 advantage. Jonathan Schoop took Sox reliever Josh Taylor deep for a solo homerun in the seventh for the lone score of the night for Detroit (52-58).
Rodriguez (8-6) only allowed two hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts to pick up the win, and Matt Barnes worked a 1-2-3 with two strikeouts for his 24th save. Hernandez, Xander Bogaerts, and Alex Verdugo had two hits each. The Sox had a season high 18 strikeouts from the pitching staff. Schoop was the only Tigers hitter with multiple hits with two, and Casey Mize (6-6) took the loss on the hill allowing four runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings. The rubber game of the three game set is Thursday at 1:10 p.m., with Boston sending LHP Martin Perez (7-7, 4.56 ERA) to the bump against LHP Tarik Skubal (6-10, 4.53) for Detroit.
