BOSTON -- In the rubber match of a three-game series at Fenway Park, the Baltimore bats matched the rising heat, coming out red hot with a six-run explosion in the first inning, setting them off on an 8-2 victory Thursday afternoon.
Taylor Ward got the party going immediately, lacing the first pitch of the game a Statcast-projected 402 feet to dead center field for a double before scoring on an Adley Rutschman single two batters later.
“It’s huge,” said Ward, who had two first-inning hits and three total on the day. “Of course, whenever you can jump out to a big lead like that, it’s great. I think it helps our starter that day, as well. Hopefully, today was the start of something.”
“It was a great job by our offense coming out ready from pitch one,” manager Craig Albernaz explained. “Obviously, [Ward] setting the tone. It was a great job grinding out at-bats, getting good pitches to hit, running the bases aggressively.”
Pete Alonso -- who later extended his hitting streak to nine games with a fifth-inning single -- grounded into a double play after Rutschman, but Leody Taveras kept the inning alive by sneaking a single through the left side of the infield, plating Gunnar Henderson, who got on base after a hit by pitch.
Samuel Basallo went from first to third on the play, but a strong throw from Wilyer Abreu in right field made for a very close play. Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy did call for a replay of the play at third base, but it was ruled to be too late and the challenge was not honored.
Coby Mayo delivered a massive blow, clearing the loaded bases with a two-out double.
The first-inning totals included 12 Baltimore batters coming to the plate, five hits, three walks, a hit batter and six runs in favor of the visiting team.
Staked with the big lead, starter Trevor Rogers cruised, retiring the first 11 batters he faced en route to his third win of the season.
“It was really fun,” a grinning Rogers said of starting the game with a six-run advantage. “Those first couple of warmup pitches, I had to let them eat a couple just to get warmed up as quickly as I could. This win was offense, man. They jumped on it right away. One through nine they were hot. They made my job pretty easy today.”
The left-hander threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing five hits, a walk and a run while striking out three batters.
“Today was outstanding,” Albernaz said of Rogers’ effort. “He was throwing a ton of strikes like we talked about before the game with his fastballs. … He did a great job of getting the bigger breaking ball, the sweeper involved, changeup as well and mixing in the shorter cutter as well. He was really efficient. Defense did a great job behind him, and it was fun to see [Rogers] go out there and have the outcome.”
Rogers came into this outing having lost six times in his last seven starts, but pitching at Fenway Park -- where he kicked off his outstanding 2025 campaign with a strong spot start in May -- seemed to have gotten the hurler back on track.
“I don’t know what it is,” said Rogers, who has a 1.40 ERA in three career starts in Boston. “It’s just the sight seems really good for me. [The batters] seem really close for whatever reason. I just love pitching here, and it’s worked out. At the end of the day, I’m just glad I got the boys a 'W.'”