BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Rafael Devers collected two hits, including a two-run home run, to help the Red Sox avoid a three-game sweep by beating the visiting San Diego Padres 4-1 Sunday.
Devers hit his 18th home run of the season in the bottom of the first against Matt Waldron. Wilyer Abreu, who reached on a walk, also scored on the home run. The two-run homer gave Devers 600 career RBIs.
Devers has hit four home runs in his last five games. Abreu and Masataka Yoshida also had two hits for the Red Sox.
Jarren Duran added a solo home run for the Red Sox, who ended a three-game losing streak. It was his ninth home run of the season.
San Diego scored in the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Jackson Merrill and Ha-Seong Kim. Merrill had three hits in the loss, which ended San Diego’s five-game winning streak.
Josh Winckowski (2-1) earned the win for tossing five scoreless innings in his second appearance since being recalled from Triple-A. Winckowski allowed four hits, struck out one and didn’t walk a batter.
Waldron (5-7) gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Boston was outscored 20-3 in the first two games of the series. San Diego prevailed 9-2 Friday night and 11-1 Saturday. The Padres entered Sunday’s game with a 9-1 record in their last 10 games and had outscored their opponents by 29 runs during that stretch.
After Devers gave Boston a 2-0 advantage, the Red Sox extended their lead to 3-0 in the third. Abreu singled, took third on a Devers single and scored on a passed ball.
Duran’s home run stretched the lead to 4-0 in the fifth, before the Padres got on the scoreboard in the seventh.
–Field Level Media