After hitting rough waters by going 2-5 on a seven-game road trip, the Boston Red Sox kicked off a six-game homestand against a pair of National League West teams on Monday night with an emphatic 11-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, accomplishing something that hasn't been done since 1949.
After a historic month of July and a fantastic start to August, the Red Sox hit a rough patch, losing six of their last 10 and three consecutive series. The starting pitching, which had been reliable for the past month and a half, has failed to give them the length needed to rest a heavily taxed bullpen, leading to injuries to key relief arms like Justin Slaten and Garrett Whitlock. The offense fell back into its early-season tendencies of being too aggressive at the plate and on the base paths while failing to cash in on the few opportunities it got to score.
Over their last nine games dating back to the end of a nine-game winning streak on Aug. 9 against the Athletics, the Red Sox offense ranked in the bottom half of baseball in batting average (.236, 17th), on-base percentage (.323, 15th), slugging percentage (.350, 22nd) and runs scored (32, 17th), while hitting just .171 with runners in scoring position.
All those struggles seemed to disappear on Monday night as the Boston offense jumped all over Diamondbacks starter Mitch Bratt for three runs on four hits. They also walked three times in only four innings.
However, it wasn't until Arizona manager Torey Lovullo turned to his bullpen that the Red Sox offense truly came alive, as they scored eight runs on 11 hits against right-hander Zack Littell in only 3.2 innings of work.
It was a complete team effort for the Red Sox offense as every member of the starting lineup logged at least one RBI, while Diamondbacks pitching failed to strike out a single member of the Boston lineup. According to OptaSTATS, Monday's win is the first time since 1949 that a Major League Baseball team has seen every member of their lineup record at least one RBI without striking out, when the Red Sox themselves accomplished the feat against the St. Louis Browns.
Up next for the Red Sox
The Boston offense will look to keep things rolling in game two of three against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night from Fenway Park. Ranger Suarez (4-3, 3.25 ERA) will get the start for the Red Sox opposite Merrill Kelly (8-10, 5.11 ERA) for Arizona. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.