Enmanuel Valdez recorded the second multi-homer game in as many days for the Boston Red Sox as they used a stretch of five unanswered runs to move past the visiting Detroit Tigers for a 6-3 win on Saturday.
Valdez finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored on the day to lead Boston to its second consecutive win in the four-game series.
Jarren Duran added two hits and two runs.
Red Sox right-hander Cooper Criswell (3-2) held up his end of the effort on the mound, striking out five while allowing just one run on four hits across the first five innings.
Matt Vierling hit two doubles while Riley Greene and Gio Urshela (two-run home run) were all 2-for-4 for Detroit, which was outhit 10-7.
Reese Olson (1-6) was charged with five runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
The Tigers scored early for the second straight game as Vierling hit a leadoff double to center and advanced on a passed ball before Greene’s RBI single into right.
A double play and ground ball got Criswell out of the inning and set Boston up for a game-tying run on Valdez’s solo homer into the right-field bullpen in the second.
The Red Sox flipped the score for the first time in the third, as back-to-back singles by Duran and Wilyer Abreu set the table for Dominic Smith’s fielder’s choice grounder.
Valdez’s double to left sparked Boston’s third straight run-scoring inning in the fourth. After a Connor Wong grounder moved him to third, he scored on Reece McGuire’s sacrifice fly.
A Vierling double to begin Detroit’s sixth looked to possibly get the visitors started with a rally, but after reliever Brennan Bernardino entered and struck out Greene, Wenceel Perez lined into a fly ball double play as Ceddanne Rafaela made a diving catch in center.
Valdez continued his stellar day with a one-out homer in the sixth, dropping the two-run shot just inside Pesky’s Pole in right that scored Smith (leadoff walk) ahead of him. Valdez has four homers on the season.
Boston rounded out its scoring in the seventh. After Jarren Duran lined a one-out double to left, a Rafael Devers single brought him home a few batters later.
The Tigers inched closer on an Urshela two-run homer in the ninth, but Brad Keller bounced back to finish the home team’s win. The blast was Urshela’s second of the season.
Red Sox second baseman Vaughn Grissom left the game due to a right hamstring strain in the top of the fourth.
Rafaela hit two homers for Boston on Friday.
–Field Level Media
