LOS ANGELES -- The Red Sox capped off a thrilling weekend at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, using a three-homer third inning and 5 2/3 innings from left-hander Jake Bennett to beat the Dodgers, 8-4, and secure a three-game sweep.
It marked Boston’s first sweep of the Dodgers since their only previous sweep from June 18-20, 2010, at Fenway Park.
Boston set the tone early in the opening frame with RBI singles from Masataka Yoshida and Caleb Durbin. After Los Angeles grabbed a brief 3-2 lead in the second on Andy Pages’ two-run single, the Red Sox responded with a home run surge in the top of the third against Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan, hitting three home runs over a four-batter stretch.
Ceddanne Rafaela launched his 15th homer of the season – his fourth long ball in the series following Saturday's two-homer performance – to tie the game at 3-3. Wilyer Abreu immediately turned around the next pitch with a solo shot to right-center, his 17th of the year, to put Boston back on top, 4-3. Following a Willson Contreras flyout, Yoshida capped the frame by driving his fifth homer of the season to right to push the lead to 5-3.
The offensive push provided plenty of backing for Bennett, who allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. After navigating a three-run second inning, the starter settled down to post three consecutive scoreless frames -- including a strikeout of Shohei Ohtani looking in the fifth -- before handing the game to the bullpen.
Jarren Duran added an insurance run in the sixth with a solo home run off reliever Kyle Hurt to extend the cushion to 6-3, a lead that stood up and gave Boston its 15th win in 16 road contests.