BOSTON — Xander Bogaerts had three hits, Hanley Ramirez, Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley Jr. all added two RBI and the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-4 on Tuesday night.
Boston blew the game open courtesy of a wild fifth inning, totaling eight hits and eight runs against Cardinals starter Mike Leake and reliever Matt Bowman. It came an inning after the Red Sox turned their first triple play in six years .
The Red Sox have won 11 of their last 13.
With runners at first and second in the fourth, slow-footed Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina grounded sharply to Rafael Devers at third base. He stepped on the bag and threw to second baseman Eduardo Nunez, who relayed to Mitch Moreland at first, where Molina was out on a close play.
It was the first triple play for Boston since Aug. 16, 2011, in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Tampa Bay.
Rick Porcello (7-14) was mostly able to cruise, giving up eight hits and three runs over seven innings to pick up the victory. He has won his past three starts after going winless for more than a month.
Leake (7-11) got the loss and has failed to win in his last four starts. He’s yielded 28 hits and 15 earned runs in 151/3 innings over his last three outings.
Nearly everyone had a hand in the Red Sox’s offense in the fifth.
Nunez and Mookie Betts reached on consecutive singles with one out, then Leake loaded the bases by hitting Andrew Benintendi’s left knee with a pitch.
Benintendi needed a few moments to shake off the pain before jogging to first to load the bases for Ramirez. He then doubled off the Green Monster to drive in Nunez and Betts.
Leake intentionally walked Devers, loading the bases again, and Bogaerts and Moreland followed with RBI singles to put Boston up 5-0.
Bowman replaced Leake after Moreland’s single and allowed a two-run double by Leon, Boston’s 10th hit of the game and sixth in the inning, bringing up Bradley for the second time in the inning.
Bradley, whose fly to left remained the only out of the inning, singled to right, bringing in two more runs, and Nunez followed with his second single of the inning.
Betts popped out to first for the second out, ending a run of 10 straight batters reaching base.
NOTES: Benintendi was pulled after the fifth inning and replaced by Chris Young. … Manager John Farrell said Dustin Pedroia, who went on the disabled list Aug. 12 with left knee inflammation, continues to do strengthening exercises to stabilize it. But Farrell said he expects his absence to last longer than 10 days. … Eduardo Rodriguez, who starts Wednesday, has allowed two earned runs over his last 12 innings.
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