Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers looked on as Jackie Bradley, Jr. made a catch Thursday. (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Mooke Betts homered for the 19th time and had three hits as part of Boston's 16-hit barrage in a 9-2 thumping of the Twins in Minnesota Thursday.
"We needed some guys to swing it," Betts said. "We got some guys rolling, and then we hit with some guys on base. We did a good job."
That capped a 6-and-4 road trip. Red Sox will start a six-game homestand tonight against the Mariners, just days after splitting a four-game set in Seattle. Sox outscored the M's 17-12 in that series, but offense was hard to come by when Steven Wright and Wade LeBlanc squared off last Saturday. Seattle won that game 1-nothing, and hasn't won since.
Wright and LeBlanc will match-up again in the 7:10 p.m. start at Fenway. Wright's 2-and-1 with a 1.23 ERA. He has similar career numbers against the M's. LeBlanc's 3-and-0, but he's only surrendered 11 runs in nine starts.
Red Sox have lost four of six and sit two games behind the Yankees for the top spot in the majors. Mariners have dropped their last four by a 27-13 margin. That includes three defeats in the Bronx.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman reports