BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox continued a minor resurgence as owner John Henry made a major shake-up in the front office.

The Red Sox routed the Cleveland Indians 9-1 on Tuesday night, a victory that was overshadowed before it ended with the club’s late announcement that Dave Dombrowski was hired to take over baseball operations for general manager Ben Cherington.

“We are responsible for the situation,” said David Ortiz, who had two doubles and drove in a run. “Sometimes that requires new moves, sometimes it doesn’t and I guess they just went for that.”

Although the Red Sox have been winning of late, Boston is in danger of finishing last in the AL East for the third time in four seasons.

The Red Sox won for the fourth time in five games the same day manager John Farrell started chemotherapy for a treatable form of cancer that will keep him out for the rest of the season.

“It’s been an awkward week to say the least, starting obviously with John’s news,” said bench coach Torey Luvullo, who is acting manager while Farrell is on medical leave. “We just got through that. We’re moving forward from that and then today’s news. It’s been tough.”

On the bright side, the Red Sox are finally hitting and giving pitchers plenty of run support. Travis Shaw went 4 for 4 and Brock Holt had three hits and two RBIs for the Red Sox, who knocked around five Cleveland pitchers for 16 hits.

Eduardo Rodriguez (7-5) pitched eight solid innings, allowing one run and six hits while striking out five and not walking a batter.

Cleveland’s only run came on Michael Brantley’s homer in the seventh.

Trevor Bauer (9-10) was pulled early from a second straight start for the Indians. Bauer, who lasted just 3 1-3 innings against the Yankees on Thursday, was gone before the end of the second on Tuesday after the Red Sox tagged him for six hits – four for extra bases.

Three were doubles, including one by Betts with the bases loaded on a line drive over the head of left fielder Ryan Raburn that put Boston up 4-0. Holt, who tripled in the first, followed with a single to drive in Betts.

“He’s fighting it right now. I think we all know that,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “When they’re going real good and you feel good and you’re confident and you’re throwing pitches with conviction. And I think right now he’s probably second-guessing himself a little bit.”

SLUGGING SOX

Boston has scored 62 runs over the last five games, providing welcome run support.

Rodriguez cruised early with a perfect game through three innings and didn’t get rattled after Brantley’s homer in the seventh. Rodriguez followed consecutive losses by going eight innings for the first time in his brief career.

“After you get a lot of runs from your teammates, you get more comfortable during the game,” Rodriguez said.

NO TIP?

Bauer was unhappy after Betts cleared the bases with his double off the Green Monster. Bauer felt Betts missed while swinging on a foul tip that ended up in catcher Roberto Perez’s glove.

“It looked like strike three,” Bauer said. “I guess the umpire said he nicked it and it hit the ground first.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

INDIANS: INF Jason Kipnis (right shoulder inflammation) was activated from the 15-day DL. The Indians placed INF Chris Johnson on the DL with an infection in his left hand caused by a spider bite.

RED SOX: Farrell started chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma, which he announced Friday he had been diagnosed with and would be on medical leave for the rest of the season.

UP NEXT

INDIANS: RHP Corey Kluber (8-12) is coming off his second straight completegame victory, a one-hitter over the Twins on Friday.

RED SOX: Joe Kelly (5-6) has won three straight starts. Kelly allowed one run and four hits over six innings Friday in a 15-1 win over Seattle.

Front office shake-up

Dombrowski, whose title will be president of baseball operations, takes over his fifth major league club immediately. The team said in a news release during its game against the Cleveland Indians that Cherington “declined the opportunity to continue as general manager” but will help with the transition.

“In nearly four decades in the game, Dave is a proven winner,” Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said. “He can restore winning ways to Yawkey Way and help to fulfill the Red Sox goal, every year, to be playing meaningful games into October.”

After taking over as the Montreal Expos GM at the age of 32, Dombrowski went on to build a World Series champion with the Florida Marlins. He took Detroit to the Series twice, winning four straight AL Central titles in 14 years in the Tigers’ front office.

But with Detroit playing below .500, Dombrowski was let go two weeks ago – shortly after the Red Sox announced that president and CEO Larry Lucchino would step away from the club at the end of the season. Red Sox COO Sam Kennedy will run the business of the ballclub, and Dombrowski takes over the baseball side.

“He is one of the most highly regarded executives in all of baseball, and had options to go with other clubs,” said Red Sox owner John Henry, who owned the Marlins for part of Dombrowski’s tenure there. “We feel very fortunate that he wanted to come to Boston and wanted to further his career – now with the Red Sox – as one of the great architects of winning baseball clubs.”

Dombrowski said he was eager to get a head start on building the 2016 club. He said he had other teams interested but he saw great potential in the Red Sox’s farm system and in the young players who have already reached the major leagues.

“There was no option that stood out as clearly as the chance to come to Boston and win with the Red Sox,” he said. “Boston is a baseball city like no other and its history and traditions are unique in our game. I expressed to John and Tom that Boston would be my absolute top choice and am honored to have the chance.”

Cherington built the Red Sox team that won the 2013 World Series, but the club finished last in his three other seasons. In all, his clubs won 289 games and lost 315.

“Ben Cherington is one of the finest individuals I have ever worked with, possessing a maturity and integrity second to none,” Henry said. “Over 17 years with the Red Sox and in the four years as our general manager, he always put the best interests of our organization first and foremost, winning a World Series Championship in 2013.”

Cherington took over from Theo Epstein after the team collapsed in September, 2011, going 7-20 to blow a nine-game lead in the AL wild-card race and miss the playoffs on the final day of the season. Cherington’s first season was doomed after he agreed to hire Bobby Valentine as manager, a move that resulted in the team’s worst finish in half of a century.

Cherington kick-started the rebuilding by sending big-name free agents Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez to the Los Angeles Dodgers, then spent the offseason adding lower-priced but high-character players like Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes and Mike Napoli. Under Farrell, the Red Sox rode the civic pride in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing to the 2013 World Series title – the third in a decade for the once-cursed franchise.

But the Red Sox were back to last place in 2014 – the first team in major league history to go from worst to first and back to worst. Cherington’s efforts to rebuild this season with high-priced free agents like Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval have shown little success.