RED SOX NOTEBOOK: Bradley ends home run drought

Jackie Bradley Jr. broke a long home run drought on Saturday with a blast to center field, giving him three home runs this year and 60 for his Red Sox career.

BOSTON - They made their major league debuts in the same season and have been teammates for six years now, so Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts have often been mentioned in the same breath.

 Now, and finally, they are tied for something. That’s because Bradley broke a long home run drought on Saturday with a blast to center field, giving him three home runs this year and 60 for his Red Sox career.

 That’s exactly how many Bogaerts has.

 Bradley’s average is still only .197 but he is only one big day away from .200. He is getting there. Bradley has hit .278 for his past 18 games.

 “Making contact, sometimes,” he said of his improvement, acknowledging that he still strikes out an awful lot. “I’m making contact and swinging at good pitches, not bad ones.”

 The home run, off southpaw Carlos Rodon, was his first home run off a lefty since June 1, 2017 and first at Fenway Park this season.

 “As soon as he hit it, you knew that it was gone,” Alex Cora said. “So that’s a good sign. He’s been consistent for 2 1/2, three weeks. We’re very happy with his approach and what he’s been doing on a daily basis.”

 Bradley has hit his 60 homers in 582 games, Bogaerts his in 670 games.

  Bett takes his cuts: Mookie Betts was on the road to the All-Star Game when he suffered a strained abdominal muscle and finally seems to be on the road to recovery from that injury. It has cost him 13 games.

 Betts got in a solid round of batting practice before Saturday’s game.

 “See how, obviously, he comes out of it through the day, how he feels,” Cora said. “If everything goes well then he’ll do it again tomorrow and we will go from there. But it seems like now he’s gaining momentum.

 “It was a lot of energy (Saturday). It looked like he was a lot better, able to drive the ball with no hesitation. Hopefully we can do it again tomorrow and go from there.”

 The plan is for Betts to have a brief rehab assignment before rejoining the major league club. The earliest that could begin is Monday.

Time flies: Perhaps it is the new rule limiting mound visits, or perhaps something else, but Red Sox games are definitely shorter this season. Ten of their past 14 games have been over in less than three hours, and 25 of 65 this season.

 Saturday’s game was clocked at 2:48

 Last year, only 13 of Boston’s first 65 games lasted less than three hours. Their median average game time last year was 3:12. It is 3:08 so far this season.

Porcello gets call: The series concludes at 1:05 this afternoon with Rick Porcello seeking his ninth win of the year for Boston, Reynaldo Lopez his second of the year for Chicago. Porcello is 8-2 overall, Lopez 1-4.

 Porcello has had two straight strong starts, getting wins in both. He allowed four earned runs in 13 innings in the two games. He is 11-8 in 23 lifetime starts versus the White Sox.

 The Red Sox have never faced Lopez before.

Devers comes around: Rafael Devers had four assists on Saturday afternoon and has quietly turned the corner with his defense at the hot corner. Devers was charged with 11 errors in the team’s first 47 games, putting him on a pace for 38. He has nnot committed an error in his last 15 games at third, easily a career best streak.

 Last year Devers never went more than eight straight games without an error and at one point committed at least one in five consecutive games.

 “I do feel he has been playing solid defense the whole season,” Cora said. “The errors — it all depends on how you see them. There’s a few things there he can’t control. … His arm is precise and a good one. And for however he’s going offensively, he’s doing an outstanding job. We’re very happy with the way he’s playing.”

Diamond dust: Dustin Pedroia is still dealing with inflammation in his left knee, so not much progress there. … Boston has won each of Christian Vazquez’ past 10 starts at catcher. … Yoan Moncada was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and a double-play ball and is 0 for 8 with five strikeouts in the series. … Boston is 12-4 in its past 16 games at Fenway Park. … Eduardo Nunez walked in the fifth inning. That snapped a streak of 41 straight games without a base on balls.