Boston Red Sox

Red Sox bat around in the 3rd inning to score 5 runs in Game 4

Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.

Rafael Devers celebrates after hitting a three-run home run. (Photo by: Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

By Conor Roche

1 minute to read

The Red Sox bats showed up in the third inning of Game 4 of the ALDS.

Boston scored five runs in the frame, with all of them coming with two outs in the inning.

Game 3 hero Christian Vázquez began the inning by hitting a line-drive single to center off Rays lefty Shane McClanahan, who came in to relieve starter Collin McHugh at the beginning of the inning. Christian Arroyo flew out on the first pitch of his at-bat, but leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber reached base with a four-pitch walk. Kike Hernández recorded the second out of the inning on a flyout to left.

Advertisement:

With two outs, the middle of the lineup did some major damage.

On the first pitch of his at-bat, Rafael Devers drilled a 97 mph fastball that was low in the zone to straightaway center. The ball landed right in the center field bleachers, and the Red Sox went up 3-0.

The homer was Devers’s second of the series, and McClanahan appeared to make a mistake throwing a low pitch. In pitches in the lower half of the zone this postseason, Devers is 3-for-7 with 2 home runs and a 1.786 OPS, via ESPN Stats & Info. That’s a stark contrast from the 2-for-11 he’s hitting against pitches in the upper half of the zone.

Advertisement:

Xander Bogaerts continued the inning, hitting a line-drive single to left. Alex Verdugo knocked Bogaerts home in the next at-bat when he took a fastball to the opposite field, with the ball bouncing off the Green Monster for a double.

J.D. Martinez ended McClanahan’s day when he hit a single off the Monster to score Verdugo, giving the Red Sox a 5-0 lead.

With righty JT Chargois now pitching for the Rays, Hunter Renfroe welcomed him into Game 4 with another double off the Monster. Martinez, though, wasn’t able to score from first on the two-out double as he’s been dealing with an ankle sprain.

Vázquez came up again, but unlike his first trip, ended up striking out to end the inning.

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com