Red Sox beat Twins for twinbill sweep, 9th straight win

MINNEAPOLIS — Alex Verdugo had three hits, including a two-run single in a six-run fifth inning, and the Boston Red Sox extended their winning streak to nine games, beating the Minnesota Twins 7-1 to sweep Wednesday’s doubleheader.

Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0) pitched five innings and gave up one run on five hits for Boston, which has come from behind in six of its nine wins this season after opening the year with three straight losses. The Red Sox have their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2018, a season that ended with a World Series title.

Verdugo had five hits in the doubleheader and capped the day with his second homer of the season in the seventh inning. The Red Sox won the first game 3-2.

Jose Berrios (2-1) surrendered four runs in 4 1/3 innings for Minnesota, giving up four hits and three walks. Berrios, who retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, walked Franchy Cordero with the bases loaded for the first run of the fifth before departing.

The Twins have lost five straight.

The doubleheader was scheduled after Monday’s game was postponed following the fatal police shooting of a Black man in a nearby suburb.

BLUE JAYS 5, YANKEES 4

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Bo Bichette matched slugger Aaron Judge in the power department and got to take the final trot.

Bichette homered twice, including a game-ending drive leading off the ninth inning that lifted the Toronto Blue Jays over the

New York Yankees 5-4 on Wednesday.

“I think I am just starting to heat up,“Bichette said. “I think I was grinding for a while. That’s part of baseball, you fight until you start feeling good. It’s good feeling now.”

Bichette drove a pitch from Chad Green (0-2) the opposite way to right-center field as Toronto took two of three.

Bichette tied his career high with an 11-game hitting streak. He had three hits and also stole a base.

METS 5, PHILLIES 1

NEW YORK — David Peterson matched a career high with 10 strikeouts in six dominant innings and batterymate James McCann hit his first home run with the Mets, sending New York past the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 on Wednesday night for its third straight win.

McCann had three hits, including a two-run homer in the eighth. Brandon Nimmo and Dominic Smith also got three hits apiece, and Francisco Lindor scored twice.

Peterson (1-1) outpitched former Mets starter Zack Wheeler, allowing only two hits and rebounding nicely from a rough outing in Philadelphia last week.