Betts keeps raking
Leaves yard as Sox roll
The Red Sox have seen a lot of great Mookie Betts moments in his five years as a major leaguer, but they’ve never seen him this hot.
Betts walloped his 15th homer in the Red Sox’ 46th game last night, blasting a two-run shot over the Green Monster in the fifth inning and leading the Sox to a 6-3 victory over the lifeless Baltimore Orioles.
He’s now all alone atop the major league homer run leaderboard and on pace to hit 53 of them, all while batting .368 and leading the majors in more than a dozen offensive categories.
Betts’ rocket came at a key moment in the game, with the Sox tied 1-1 and Rick Porcello dueling Dylan Bundy on a rainy night.
Sandy Leon led off the fifth with a double, his first of the year, and then the slumping Jackie Bradley Jr. failed to advance Leon to third base while striking out in his fourth straight trip to the plate.
But Betts made amends with a big swing on a high fastball on the outer half of the plate, sending it over the left-center field wall in a hurry.
Among the many amazing feats of Betts’ start to the season is this: He’s been hitless in only nine games in which he’s played at least five innings, and in six of those games he’s drawn a walk. He’s been held off the bases just three times all year.
His home run brought life to Fenway Park and the Sox offense, as Andrew Benintendi followed with a big jack to right field for his fourth dinger of the season.
Porcello needed the help.
Coming off two rough outings after he began the season with a 2.14 ERA through seven starts, he looked much more in control during this game, using a full assortment of pitches to strike out nine Orioles hitters in six innings.
But Eduardo Nunez couldn’t handle a hard Mark Trumbo grounder, and then Porcello gave up a high fly ball to Pedro Alvarez that just got over the Monster for a two-run shot.
Holding a 4-3 lead in the seventh, Joe Kelly recorded one of his most dominant outings of the year, striking out Adam Jones and Manny Machado in a 1-2-3 inning.
Orioles rookie reliever Tanner Scott helped the Sox’ cause in their half, walking Leon and Bradley to start the frame. Both runners moved up on a Betts fly ball to right, then they scored on a tworun single by Benintendi.
Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel pitched clean innings in the eighth and ninth to finish the win.