Boston left fielder Andrew Beninitendi is shown here in an earlier game this season at Fenway Park against Texas. Benintendi had four hits Saturday night leading the Sox to a win over the Tigers. Photo by Delaney Gardner
After building a sizable lead for the second straight night, the Boston Red Sox pounded out 17 hits and held on for a 10-6 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. The two teams combined for 31 hits.
Boston (48-41) scored the first seven runs of the game. Rafael Devers had an RBI groundout, and Michael Chavis had an RBI single in the top of the first after a lengthy delay to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. The game was scheduled for shortly after 4 pm, but rain delayed the start until after 8. Mookie Betts had a two run double, and Christian Vazquez added an RBI single in the second. Andrew Benintendi had an RBI double, and Brock Holt a sacrifice fly RBI in the fourth making it 7-0. Jeimer Candelario hit a two run homer to get Detroit (28-56) on the board in the bottom of the fourth. The Tigers continued the comeback in the sixth when Candelario hit his second homer of the game. The solo homerun cut the lead to four runs. Bobby Wilson added a two run single, and Victor Reyes an RBI triple in that four run sixth to all of a sudden make it a 7-6 game.
The Red Sox got a gift run in the seventh inning with the bases loaded. Tigers pitcher Buck Farmer tried to force Marco Hernandez at the plate, but his throw went wild and the error brought in Hernandez to make it 8-6. Boston reliever Josh Taylor ran into trouble in the bottom of the seventh. Detroit loaded the bases with one out, before getting a groundout to record a force out at home. Matt Barnes got the final out with the bases still loaded when he struck out Gordon Beckham. Eduardo Nunez had a two out RBI single in the eighth, and Vazquez added a sacrifice fly for an RBI in the ninth to give the visitors some breathing room again and end the scoring.
Rick Porcello (6-7) wasn’t entirely sharp but got enough offense to pick up the pitching win. Porcello allowed six runs on nine hits, with one walk and five strikeouts in 5.2 innings. The bullpen combo of Colten Brewer, Taylor, Barnes, Brandon Workman, and Steven Wright allowed no runs on five hits over the final 4.1 innings. Benintendi had four hits falling a homer short of the cycle, while both Hernandez and Betts had three each. Holt and Vazquez each added two hits a piece. Christin Stewart and Harold Castro each had three hits for the Tigers. Jordan Zimmerman (0-6) got hit hard and took the loss on the hill allowing seven runs on 13 hits in 3.1 innings.
Boston goes for the three game weekend sweep heading in the All Star break on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 pm. The Sox send David Price to the mound to try to head into that break on a four game win streak.
