Red Sox Enjoy Power Surge In Buffalo, Mash 11 Homers In Two Wins Over Jays
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox struggled to score runs against the Yankees right out of the All-Star break, leading to some concerns that the team's powerful offense was suffered a bit of a brownout. Those concerns have been alleviated after a quick power surge in Buffalo.
It turns out that all the Red Sox needed was a trip to hitter-friendly Sahlen Field to get back into the swing of things.
In a quick two-game, rain-shortened sweep of the Blue Jays, the Red Sox went yard 11 times. Boston followed up Monday's six-homer win with five long balls on Wednesday night, leading to a 7-4 victory. It's the first time that the Red Sox have hit at least five homers in multiple games in the same series since 1977, when the team mashed five homers in each of their three games in a set against the Yankees.
It's too bad that Tuesday's game was rained out, robbing the Sox of another game at the boom box in Buffalo. And unfortunately for Boston, Wednesday night was the final MLB game scheduled to be played at Sahlen Field, with the Blue Jays returning north of the border.
But at least Boston made the most out of their trip to Buffalo, picking up a pair of important division wins in the process. Boston now owns a one-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, with a seven-game advantage over the Yankees and an eight-game cushion over the Blue Jays.
Wednesday night's power jolt began with the man up top, as Enrique Hernández continued his torrid stretch by stringing a two-run, line drive homer in the third inning. The ball barely cleared the fence in left field, but it was good enough for his third homer in the last two games. Hernandez is on pace for a career-best 25 homers this season.
Rafael Devers made it a 3-0 game in the fourth with his team-leading 24th dinger of the season, and Michael Chavis gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead with a 409-foot shot in the fifth. The Blue Jays made it interesting with a pair of homers in the bottom of the sixth, pulling to within 5-4, but the Sox turned their series homer total up to 11 in the eighth inning on a pair of solo blasts by J.D. Martinez and Hunter Renfroe.
Renfroe's homer was his second in as many games. Boston also got two homers from Devers in the series and one apiece from Martinez, Chavis, rookie Jarren Duran and Danny Santana, in addition to Hernandez's three bombs.
Those offensive struggles in the Bronx are a distant memory, sent into orbit by a bash party in Buffalo. Now the Red Sox will look to bring this power surge home, as they return to Fenway Park for eight important games against the Yankees and the Blue Jays.
