Alfaro homers twice as Marlins double up Sox
MIAMI — Jorge Alfaro homered twice before he took a foul ball to his helmet and the Miami Marlins beat the Boston Red Sox 8-4 on Wednesday night.
Garrett Cooper also homered and scored twice for Miami, which moved within 2 ½ games of first-place Atlanta in the NL East.
Alfaro, the Marlins’ catcher, was removed in the seventh inning as a precaution after Christian Vazquez’s foul ball beaned him.
Miami chased Boston starter Michael Kickham with a fourrun third. Alfaro hit his first of two two-run blasts. Brian Anderson had a run-scoring single and scored from first on Lewis Brinson’s RBI double to make it 6-1.
Alfaro also went deep in the fifth, a 412-foot shot to left-center off Robinson Leyer.
Yimi Garcia (2-0) pitched a perfect eighth and was credited with the win even though he entered with an 8-4 lead. Brandon Kintzler was the sixth Miami reliever and worked a scoreless ninth.
Miami starter Trevor Rogers was lifted after three innings and 76 pitches. Rogers allowed one run on three hits, walked two, hit a batter and struck out three.
J.D. Martinez snapped a 1-for30 funk with a two-run homer off Miami reliever Ryne Stanek in the seventh. Martinez drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the third.
Cooper hit a two-run homer to center in the first that snapped a 14-inning scoreless string by Boston pitchers.
Kickham (1-1) allowed six runs on seven hits in 2 ⅔ innings.
Alex Verdugo had three hits, a walk and scored twice for Boston.
Gamenotes: Marlins OF Starling Marte was given the night off after playing 16 consecutive games since joining the club in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks Aug. 31.
Up next: Red Sox RHP Nate Eovaldi (2-2, 4.82) will pitch the series finale on Thursday. Before joining the New York Yankees in 2015, Eovaldi spent three seasons in Miami, where he went 13-27. ... Marlins: RHP Jose Urena (0-1, 7.71) allowed five earned runs in 4
innings against Philadelphia in his previous start.