Betts back in business
Big night helps Sox beat Jays
TORONTO — One perfect swing from Mookie Betts might be just what the Red Sox offense needed.
Betts hit his first homer of the season last night, and it was a loud one, as he tattooed an inside fastball from Blue Jays reliever Joe Smith into the upper deck of the Rogers Centre in the seventh inning for his third hit of the game.
Las t year ’s runnerup in American League MVP voting helped the Sox to an 8-7 win against the whimpering Jays.
The offense produced 15 hits in the Sox’ fourth straight victory, and Betts has had multiple hits in three of those games.
“When Mookie gets hot, he’s like, ridiculous, you know?” Xander Bogaerts said. “He just goes on these runs and you can’t get him out.”
Brian Johnson threw five serviceable innings to pick up career win No. 1 in a spot start. He allowed four runs while filling in for Eduardo Rodriguez (paternity leave).
Clearly this is a different team with Betts’ hot bat in the No. 3 hole. He missed two of the first nine games with the flu and began the year just 4-for-23. But he’s 12-for-21 since, and his streak without a strikeout stands at 127 regular-season plate appearances.
“Pretty irrelevant,” Betts said of the strikeout-less streak. “An out’s an out. I don’t care about that at all.”
Said Bogaerts: “I don’t even want to talk about it. I don’t want to jinx it. So I ain’t going to be that guy.”
With the Sox trailing 2-0 entering the third inning, Betts delivered an RBI single to key a three-run rally. He then began a three-run fifth inning with another single. In the seventh, he added the homer.
“It feels good,” Betts said. “But it just counts for one, so whatever.”
It must have been a relief for the Red Sox to see Betts go yard the way he did, turning loose on an 87-mph fastball in on his hands and lifting it to left field. He underwent offseason surgery to repair cartilage in his right knee, which bothered him occasionally last year, and had been a singles machine this season prior to the blast. (He does remain without a stolen bases after posting 26 in 2016).
The Red Sox, last in majors with just seven home runs, are relying on another monster year from Betts.
“He’s a balanced, confident hitter,” manager John Farrell said. “He’s seeing the ball so well. He’s just taking great swings.”
Mitch Moreland also had a big game, with three hits, including his MLB-leading 10th double, and three RBI. He drove in a pair of runs with a single in the third inning and pushed another across with a long double in the fifth.
It wasn’t an easy night for Johnson in his second career start. Toronto, off to a 2-11 start, banged out four hits and scored twice in the first inning, and had another runner thrown out at the plate.
The first out he recorded was a strikeout of Jose Bautista on an 89-mph fastball right down the pipe. A soft-tosser, Johnson sat around 86-89 mph with a heavy dose of offspeed stuff that was mildly effective. He served up two homers and completed the five innings on 96 pitches.
The Blue Jays’ Marcus Stroman entered with a 1.76 ERA through his first two starts, but the Red Sox roughed him up for six runs on 11 hits and forced him out of the game in the fifth.
With the bullpen options limited, Matt Barnes worked the final 11⁄ innings. Barnes allowed three runs, including a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Ezequiel Carrera with two outs in the ninth.