G26: Red Sox 7, Tigers 3

Tigers  - 003 000 000 - 3  7  0
Red Sox - 023 101 00x - 7 10  2

The Red Sox hammered Jordan Zimmermann* (3-5-5-3-2, 77) for two singles, two doubles, a home run, and three walks. Ten of the 16 batters Zimmermann faced reached base. That was more than enough offense to carry the Red Sox to victory.

*: Which is the proper thing to do to anyone with "Zimmer" in his name.

They made Zimmermann work, too, seeing 17, 32, and 28 pitches in the first three innings. Andrew Benintendi set the tone by walking on nine pitches to start the bottom of the first, though nothing came of the walk.

In the second, Xander Bogaerts singled to the shortstop hole one pitch after clubbing a long foul ball down the left field line. (It was one of several foul balls pounded down either foul line off Zimmermann.) Rafael Devers fouled out, but Michael Chavis homered to left for two runs. Chavis may have hit the ball off the end of his bat, but it still sailed quickly into the second row of Monster Seats.

Rick Porcello (6-6-3-2-5, 91), who showed some seven o'clock shadow after shaving off his beard, had only one bad inning, allowing three hits and three runs at the start of the third. A double by JaCoby Jones, a run-scoring single by Jeimer Candelario, and a two-run homer by Nicholas Castellanos have the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

Mookie Betts doubled with one out in the third and went to third on a wild pitch. Moreland walked (after drilling a foul ball deep to right). J.D. Martinez singled to left, scoring Betts. Bogaerts forced JDM at second before Devers doubled to the opposite field. Left fielder Nick Goodrum bobbled the carom off the Wall, but both baserunners were going to score anyway.

A pair of back-to-back doubles scored Boston's other two runs. Benintendi and Betts were the batters in the fourth and Sandy Leon and Benintendi got together in the sixth.

A trio of relievers - Heath Hembree, Colten Brewer, and Ryan Brasier - allowed only a walk and a single in three innings.

Seven of Boston's 10 hits were for extra bases: one home run and six doubles (two each from Benintendi and Betts). It would appear the Doubles Drought is over. After hitting only one double in three games earlier in the week, the Red Sox have smacked nine in the last two games.

Benintendi is cooking over his last 16 games. He's hitting .367, with seven doubles, eight walks, 10 runs scored, and 10 RBI. ... Betts has been Betts in his last seven games, hitting .423 (11-for-26) with only three strikeouts in 32 plate appearances.

The Red Sox are 5.5 GB, with the first-place Rays in for three games this weekend.

Jordan Zimmermann / Rick Porcello

Benintendi, LF
Betts, RF
Moreland, 1B
Martinez, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Chavis, 2B
Bradley, CF
León, C

The Globe's Alex Speier writes that for most of this season, the Red Sox lineup has

had the feel of a volcano that had gone dormant. The Vesuvian displays of a year ago had gone missing, but in the last five games, manager Alex Cora thought he'd finally started to see signs of smoldering magma nearing the surface ... sustained pressure being exerted against pitching staffs that suggested possibility.

Yesterday's seven-run eighth inning, though greatly assisted by five walks, was "a long-awaited and much-anticipated reminder of potential".

Let's see if the Red Sox (10-15) can keep that momentum going tonight.

On Wednesday night, Gary Maniloaf returned to the MFY, who had gone 8-3 in his absence. Sanchez went 0-for-4, with four strikeouts (two of which ended innings); he also committed his fifth error of the year (in his 12th game). On the bright side for the Yankees, he didn't jog to first base at all!

Earlier this month, Atlanta's Ozzie Albies signed a seven-year, $35 million contract extension. Those terms were called "insultingly low" by Sports Illustrated, and "baffling given both how good Albies already is [at age 22] and how likely he is to be better". Reds broadcaster Chris Welsh offered a racist explanation last night:

A lot of people are blaming the agent for letting him sign a deal like that. But Albies came from a very poor background, he's from Curaçao, and when somebody offers you $35 million — I mean, he may not know the difference between $35 million and $85 million.

Albies (who speaks English, Spanish, Dutch, and Papiamentu, which is likely three more languages than Welsh understands) said (right after he signed the team-friendly extension):

I look at it as, it's not just for money. Because I'm not playing for money. I'm playing for my career. And I took it because I want my family to be safe. ... We're more than best friends [teammate Ronald Acuña], we're brothers. I love him. It wasn't just because of him, because I love everybody on the team. And I love being where I'm at, being part of the Braves. I want to be a Brave for the rest of my life.