Mighty Mickey homers again as Red Sox secure needed series victory

BOSTON -- During their summer surge of 27 wins in 30 games, it became a way of life for the Red Sox to win every series they played. They won nine sets in a row during that span, which included winning streaks of 15 games and nine games.

But once the magical run ended, three straight series losses to sub-.500 teams in the Athletics, Blue Jays and Pirates ensued.

And that’s what made Tuesday’s 9-4 victory over the D-backs satisfying.

Boston got back into the series win column by winning the last two nights and will go for the sweep on Wednesday afternoon (4:10 p.m. ET) behind the electric rookie left arm of Payton Tolle.

While Tuesday’s win featured prized trade acquisition Adley Rutschman’s best game with the Red Sox (two-run single, homer, walk), there were some other key takeaways.

1. Gasper’s power show
With Masataka Yoshida out until at least late in the regular season with a significant left hamstring strain, Mickey Gasper is going to be getting some time at designated hitter. For the second straight night, Gasper went deep. Unlike Monday’s homer, which was a bit of a Fenway special that was curled around the foul pole in right, Tuesday’s blast was a missile into the bleachers, traveling a Statcast-projected 414 feet at an exit velocity of 106 mph.

Gasper came into this series with two career homers in 92 games before hitting them in back-to-back games. Add in an RBI single and two walks, and Gasper reached base in all four of his plate appearances on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old journeyman has played 508 games in the Minor Leagues, but he has been a strong hitter throughout his professional career.

“He can hit,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “I've talked plenty about him the last time he was here, particularly from [the left] side of the plate. He's a really, really good at-bat, and the ball finds the barrel of his bat a lot.”

2. Misleading line for Ranger
The linescore shows that Ranger Suarez had a meh night, giving up four runs in 5 1/3 innings. But all four of the runs came home on a grand slam by Gabriel Moreno in the third inning, on a rally which started with two outs and nobody on base.

For Suarez, who was on the injured list from July 6-25 with a left groin strain, this was his fifth start since his return, and his 93 pitches represent the most since he’s been back.

“Really good as always,” said Rutschman. “Elite location, a lot of different pitches, able to mix throughout the zone. Well, a little bit of bad luck in the [third] inning, and one big swing and four runs, but I thought he pitched really well tonight and did a great job. It's really fun catching him.”

3. Abreu recovers to save two runs
With reliever Tyron Guerrero in some trouble in the top of the sixth, two on and two outs, James McCann hit a 100.1 mph liner to right. The drive traveled a bit further than Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu initially anticipated. But Abreu made a great recovery and made a lunging catch to save two runs that would have tied the game.

Winner of the Gold Glove Award for his excellence in right field the last two seasons, it is widely expected that Abreu will three-peat this season.