BALTIMORE — Dustin Pedroia homered twice and drove in five runs as the Boston Red Sox scored nine early runs and rolled to a 10-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.
Pedroia hit a two-run homer in the third and added a three-run shot in the fourth as the Red Sox scored five to go up 9-0. This was his third multi-homer game this season and the sixth of his career.
The second baseman finished 2-for-4 with a walk.
Designated hitter David Ortiz added career homer No. 501, a solo shot in the second as Boston (69-76) snapped a two-game losing streak.
All of the offense gave Red Sox starter Henry Owens (3-2) a nice cushion to work with, and the left-hander responded with 7 2/3 shutout innings. He scattered six hits and struck out four without a walk as the Orioles rarely threatened.
Baltimore (71-74) won six of their previous seven games while clinging to hopes in the American League wild-card race.
Boston right fielder Brock Holt contributed two RBI singles, and shortstop Deven Marrero finished 3-for-4 with an RBI single.
Left fielder Steve Pearce gave the Orioles their lone run with an RBI groundout in the ninth.
The Red Sox used their power to take command early in the game. Ortiz led off the second with a home run to center that gave Boston a 1-0 lead.
Holt’s RBI single made it 2-0 in the third. Pedroia came up two batters later and crushed a two-run homer to left center for a 4-0 lead.
The first two Red Sox batters got hits in the fourth, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter pulled starter Mike Wright (2-5). Jorge Rondon came on, and the reliever gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Marrero and Holt.
Two batters later, Pedroia belted a three-run homer to left that gave the Red Sox a 9-0 lead.
Blue Jays 9, Braves 1
ATLANTA — The Toronto Blue Jays offense got cranked back up Wednesday night in support of David Price and in the process added to the miseries of Atlanta’s Shelby Miller.
First baseman Edwin Encarnacion was 3-for-3 with two walks and Price improved to 7-1 since his trade from Detroit to Toronto with a 9-1 interleague victory over the Braves.
Catcher Russell Martin hit his 20th homer of the season with a runner on in the ninth inning to finish with four RBIs and the Blue Jays (83-62) maintained their three-game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East.
Price, who is 16-5 with a 2.42 ERA overall, struck out nine over seven innings and the only run he gave up came in the first. The left-hander allowed six hits and walked three, departing after 105 pitches.
Miller (5-15) didn’t make it out of the fourth inning in losing his 14th straight decision. The right-hander, who was picked for the All-Star Game, has gone 22 starts without a victory, extending his Braves record.
Encarnacion, who had missed the previous two games with a sore left middle finger, has reached base safely in 43 consecutive games since July 21 and is batting .365 (57-for-156) over that stretch.
Catcher Christian Bethancourt was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk for the Braves (57-89), who had snapped a 12-game home losing streak with a victory in the series opener Tuesday.
Yankees 3, Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — First baseman Greg Bird had a double and a home run to lead the New York Yankees to a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
Bird’s home run off Rays reliever Andrew Bellatti hit the ‘C’ ring of the catwalk — well over the right-field wall — and gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead in the top of the ninth.
That was all the Yankees pitching staff would need as Luis Severino (4-3) struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings to get the win. Andrew Miller struck out the side in the ninth for his 34th save.
Third baseman Chase Headley had an RBI single in the sixth inning that scored catcher Brian McCann to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
Tampa Bay answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double from Steven Souza Jr. that scored first baseman James Loney.