Red Sox Wrap: Boston Scorches Indians With 12-5 Victory On Memorial Day

The Boston Red Sox squared off against the Cleveland Indians for the first time this season on Monday, walking away with a 12-5 victory.

Rick Porcello tossed for 6 2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs off of eight hits while striking out four of the batters he faced along the way.

Boston combined for 13 hits in their 12-run game, striking out 10 in the process.

Here’s how it all went down:

GAME IN A WORD:
Explosive.

Baseballs were flying all over the place on Monday, and Boston ended up on the right side of the box score.

ON THE BUMP:
— Porcello had himself a decent Monday afternoon, but got into a bit of trouble early in the game.

After loading the bases in the first inning, the righty gave up the game’s first run on an RBI-single to Jason Kipnis. He would quickly reload the bases after hitting Jake Baurs with a pitch, and a ground out to shortstop Xander Bogaerts would force home another run, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead. Porcello would gather himself to complete the inning.

Porcello would allow a third run to score in the third off of a ground out to second, but would settle down for a bit after that. The lefty would allow the Indians to score their fourth run of the game off of a Roberto Perez single to right field, leading Cora to pull him from the game.

— Heath Hembree took over pitching duties for the Sox in the seventh. The righty gave up an RBI-double to the first batter he faced, which cut Boston’s lead in half. 

— Ryan Braiser entered the game for a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

— Hector Velazquez came in for the ninth, closing out the game for the Sox on a strong note.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX:
— It took a couple of innings, but Boston’s bats finally got hot in the third.

A long RBI-single hit by Betts put the Sox on the board. Betts would score on a wild pitch to bring the Sox within one.

— Brock Holt would keep things going in the fourth, tying the game at three with an RBI-single of his own.

But with the bases loaded, the Sox would fail to score another run.

— The Sox would take a 4-3 lead in the fifth thanks to an RBI-double hit by Rafael Devers into center field, allowing Betts to score from second base. Then it was Bogaerts’ turn to hit an RBI-double, driving Devers home to give Boston a 5-3 lead. Boston would tack another point on thanks to a Jackie Bradley Jr. double to center field.

Sandy Leon would break things wide open on a three-run homer, making it 9-3 Boston.

— J.D. Martinez launched a solo homer into the Red Sox bullpen with two out in the sixth. That would make it 10-3 good guys.

— Bradley’s second extra-base hit of the game drove Holt home in the seventh to give the Sox an 11-5 lead.

— Martinez would hit his second home run of the day in the eighth inning to make it 12-5.

TWEET OF THE DAY:
Check out this impressive catch made by Mookie in the fifth.

UP NEXT:
Boston will continue its three-game set against the Indians on Tuesday. First pitch is slated for 7:10 p.m. ET.