A 2019 rarity: Red Sox cruise to victory

The pitching was solid and the offense was opportunistic and managed a steady stream of grinding, quality at-bats as the Red Sox rolled, 11-4, over the Tigers on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

BOSTON - There haven’t been many nights yet this season where the Red Sox have recorded such an easy victory.

 Eduardo Rodriguez produced a fine starting pitching performance. Three members of the bullpen took care of business behind him. The offense was opportunistic and managed a steady stream of grinding, quality at-bats.

 The result was a site all too rare to date at Fenway Park. Boston sauntered to an 11-4 win over the Tigers, a club that looked somewhat outclassed by what was expected to be one of the best teams in baseball.

 That’s not how it’s played out to this point, but the Red Sox have enough talent to make you believe their fortunes could turn on a dime. The bottom of the order helped spark a pair of rallies, the top of the order produced some mid-game insurance and the projected No. 4 starter in Boston’s rotation resembled a young ace at times. Detroit was unable to produce a real reply and is a loss away from splitting the four-game set on Thursday.

 Rodriguez came out dealing for the second time in as many home starts this season. He set down the first 14 men he faced in a 6-4 win over the Orioles on April 12 and carried a no-hitter into the top of the fifth inning on Wednesday. Rodriguez allowed two hits in all and struck out seven over six strong innings, departing with a 4-1 lead.

 The left-hander zipped through the first four innings until issuing a leadoff walk to Brandon Dixon in the fifth. Gordon Beckham’s one-out single put two men on before Rodriguez struck out Grayson Greiner and JaCoby Jones to escape his first real trouble spot. Rodriguez went to the fastball and changeup respectively, two pitches on which he notched a combined 13 of his 18 swings-and-misses.

 There was another threat to come in the sixth, and it was here where Rodriguez finally saw his shutout bid broken up. Jeimer Candelario smoked a leadoff double up the gap in left center and Niko Goodrum’s sacrifice fly to right put the Tigers on the board. Dixon’s foul pop to first came on Rodriguez’s 90th pitch of the night, the last of his 54 strikes.

 The Red Sox staked Rodriguez to a 2-0 lead in the second thanks in part to their legs. J.D. Martinez was running when Xander Bogaerts grounded to short, avoiding a 6-4-3 double play. Martinez later scored on an RBI single to right by Rafael Devers and Christian Vazquez grounded another run-scoring single through the right side to chase in Jackie Bradley Jr.

 Boston went a bit more conventional in the fifth to double its lead. Mookie Betts lashed an RBI double off the Green Monster and Martinez picked up his third hit on a run-scoring single to left. The Red Sox forced Detroit starter Tyson Ross to the showers after recording just 15 outs on 98 pitches.

 Boston added on in the eighth after Matt Barnes escaped a mess of his own making by striking out Ronny Rodriguez. Vazquez lined an RBI single to left, Andrew Benintendi smoked an RBI double to left and bases-loaded walks by Bogaerts, Devers and Chavis all forced in runs. Bradley grounded a two-run single through the right side to complete the uprising and Tyler Thornburg scuffled through the game’s final three outs despite allowing three runs in the ninth.