BOSTON — In his last six games, Mookie Betts is batting .466 with four home runs, four doubles and 12 RBI.

“I wouldn’t call it a tear,” Betts said. “I’m just trying to be consistent.”

Whatever … it’s working. Betts homered and doubled Saturday, knocking in three runs and scoring two, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays before 35,447 at Fenway Park.

Chris Sale (4-2) got the win, striking out 12 in seven innings, his seventh straight game with at least 10 strikeouts.

Red Sox Manager John Farrell, who moved Betts to the leadoff spot last weekend, said Betts has been looking hot for almost a month.

“He’s three or four weeks into a really good run where the impact of the baseball is there,” Farrell said. “The two-run homer and then another double. He’s done that repeatedly, where he’s had multiple base hits – giving us a spark in that leadoff spot for sure.”

Advertisement

Betts’ double was one of the three consecutive doubles in a four-run fifth inning that was the final rally the Red Sox (19-17) needed.

Sale gave up only two hits but both were home runs, by Logan Morrison (second inning) and Kevin Kiermaier (two-run shot in the fifth).

Betts hit his sixth home run of the year with two outs in the third inning. Sandy Leon had walked, but Blake Snell (0-4) had yet to yield a hit. He fell behind 2-0 to Betts.

“I was just trying to stay with the big part of the field and I turned on one,” said Betts, who jumped on an inside fastball. His two-run homer just cleared the left-field wall. “It didn’t go very far but hey, it went over.”

Kiermaier hit an 0-2 fastball to give Tampa Bay (18-21) the lead again, 3-2.

In the bottom of the fifth, Snell walked Leon again, then yielded doubles to Jackie Bradley Jr., Deven Marrero and Betts. Xander Bogaerts’ groundout scored Betts for a 6-3 lead.

Advertisement

Sale retired six of the seven batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings (with one walk). Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel each recorded two strikeouts in their one inning of relief. Kimbrel notched his 11th save.

The bottom third of the lineup – Leon, Bradley and Marrero – went a combined 4 for 7 with two walks. Bradley, who was recently benched during a slump, added a single along with his double to left.

“One of the most encouraging swings of the day was (Bradley’s) double down the left-field line,” Farrell said, referring to Bradley’s tendency to sometimes try and pull everything.

“Their attack plan against Jackie has been down and away. He stays on a pitch the other way … then a base hit up the middle a couple at-bats later.

“As he gains some personal momentum, it changes the dynamic of the bottom third of the order. You get contributions out of that bottom third, you have a chance to score an above-average number of runs.”

NOTES: Of Boston’s three injured infielders, Brock Holt could be activated by Tuesday and Pablo Sandoval could begin a rehab stint later in the week. Marco Hernandez is still waiting to see if his shoulder will need surgery. … Hanley Ramirez missed a third straight game with back spasms.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.