Rafael Devers hit a home run in his fifth straight game as the Boston Red Sox routed the St. Louis Cardinals 11-3 on Sunday to snap their four-game losing streak.
Devers hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, walked and scored twice. Dominic Smith drove in three runs and Tyler O’Neill, who came to Boston from the Cardinals in an offseason trade, went 2-for-3 with a homer, two walks and three runs.
Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (2-2) allowed one run on one hit, a Lars Nootbaar homer, in six innings. He struck out eight with no walks.
Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (1-2) allowed four runs on six hits in three innings. He struck out three and walked one.
O’Neill’s home run, his 11th of the season, gave the Red Sox a 1-0 first-inning lead.
Boston increased its lead to 2-0 in the second inning. Connor Wong walked, advanced on a passed ball and scored on Garrett Cooper’s double.
The Red Sox pushed their lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning when Cooper hit a single and scored on Romy Gonzalez’s double.
Ceddanne Rafaela reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base, took third on an error and scored when third-baseman Nolan Arenado dropped a sky-high pop-up from Jarren Duran. The official scorer ruled the play a triple.
Pivetta retired the first 10 batters he faced and the Cardinals finally broke through with Nootbaar’s homer in the fourth to cut their deficit to 4-1.
Boston made it 7-0 in the fifth inning. O’Neill and Rafael Devers drew walks to start the rally. Infield singles by Wong and Wilyer Abreu scored one run, then Smith hit a two-run single.
The Red Sox upped their lead to 9-1 in the sixth inning when O’Neill walked and Devers hit his ninth home run of the season.
The Cardinals cut their deficit to 9-3 in the seventh. Paul Goldschmidt’s double, along with singles by Arenado, Alec Burleson and Brendan Donovan, produced one run. A wild pitch allowed another.
Boston made it 11-3 in the ninth inning on a David Hamilton home run and an RBI ground out from Smith.
–Field Level Media
