Field Level Media
May 25, 2018
Mookie Betts hit a two-run blast for his major league-leading 17th home run and Eduardo Rodriguez struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball as the host Boston Red Sox beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 Friday night.
J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland added solo homers for Boston, which has won seven of its last nine games. Martinez's fourth-inning homer tied him with Betts before he went deep in the seventh.
Rodriguez (5-1) allowed six hits and walked three.
Nick Markakis drove in two runs for the Braves, who have lost two straight after dropping two of three games at Philadelphia. Atlanta's three-game weekend series against Boston marks its first trip to Fenway Park since 2016.
Braves starter Julio Teheran (4-2) allowed three runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts in a six-inning defeat.
Markakis' two-run double in the third inning put Atlanta up 2-0. Boston tied the game on a pair of Green Monster shots from Martinez and Bogaerts (seventh homer) in the fourth. Andrew Benintendi's sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.
Betts also cleared the Monster in the seventh, making it a three-run game. Moreland (eighth homer) added some insurance with his homer in the eighth.
Before the game, Boston designated ex-All-Star first baseman/designated hitter Hanley Ramirez for assignment. Ramirez, 34, hit .260 with 78 homers and 255 RBIs over three-plus seasons after re-joining the team on a four-year deal.
The move created room for second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who was activated Friday after missing the first 50 games of the season recovering from left knee surgery. Pedroia could make his 2018 debut as soon as Saturday.
Atlanta placed left-hander Luiz Gohara on the bereavement list before Friday's game following his mother's heart surgery in his native Brazil. The Braves recalled righty Matt Wisler from Triple-A Gwinnett.
--Field Level Media