BOSTON — Jackie Bradley Jr. swears he isn’t thinking about his current hitting streak. Around Fenway Park, he’d be the only one.
Bradley had two hits to extend his major league-best streak to 29 games, Xander Bogaerts homered to extend his hitting streak to 18 games and the Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 10-3 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight win.
Travis Shaw added three RBI and Blake Swihart had a pair of triples as Boston moved to a season-best 12 games over .500. The Red Sox have scored eight or more runs 10 times in their last 14 home games.
“I don’t think about it, until I’m reminded about it,” said Bradley, who tied Johnny Damon for the fourth-longest streak in club history. “If it ends tomorrow, today – it doesn’t matter. I just want to continue to keep swinging the bat well and keep winning.”
Steven Wright (4-4) had another solid outing, giving up three runs, two earned. He has now given up three runs or fewer in eight of his nine starts.
Chad Bettis (4-3) held the Red Sox scoreless through three innings but was responsible for seven runs over the next two innings and was pulled.
“I just thought location got away from him in the fourth and the fifth,” Manager Walt Weiss said.
The Rockies have lost six of their last seven – all on the road.
After a slow start, the Red Sox got back into the recent offensive groove that has propelled them this season.
Bogaerts led off the fourth with his home run for Boston’s first run. Later, Bradley lined Bettis’ first pitch of his at-bat through the left side of the infield to extend his streak.
Shaw followed with an RBI single, and Swihart kept things going later with his two-run triple to put Boston up 4-2. The Red Sox added three more in the fifth.
“Another strong performance by our guys,” Manager John Farrell said.
The offense helped erase what was at times a tough night for catcher Ryan Hanigan trying to corral the Wright’s knuckleballs. Hanigan allowed four passed balls, and Wright had three wild pitches.
A passed ball and wild pitch in the second inning helped set up an RBI groundout by Mark Reynolds that put the Rockies up 1-0.
Hanigan nearly tied it in the third with an apparent home run to right field, but a review ruled it foul. He exited an inning later and was replaced by Christian Vasquez due to illness.
Dustin Pedroia was replaced in the fifth by Marco Hernandez for precautionary reasons after experiencing right hamstring tightness while running to second on a double.
Bogaerts got treatment for a cut to his thumb after tagging a runner out in the eighth.
Pedroia said he was stretched after he left and expects to play Thursday.
“Unless I get benched,” he said.
NOTES: Farrell said utility player Brock Holt (seven-day concussion DL) went through “a battery of tests” over the past two days and was scheduled to travel back to Boston on Wednesday. He will begin general conditioning on Thursday. … Farrell said LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (right patella subluxation) came out of his rehab start at Triple-A Pawtucket “in pretty good shape.”
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