Connor Wong clubbed a pair of solo homers and joined Wilyer Abreu with four hits while Cooper Criswell pitched five strong innings as the visiting Boston Red Sox cooled off the Cleveland Guardians with an 8-0 victory on Wednesday night.
Rafael Devers, back from a five-game absence due to a knee injury, also went deep, was a triple shy of the cycle and had two RBIs for the Red Sox, who evened the three-game set by improving to 4-1 on a six-game trip.
Wong entered Wednesday with three home runs this season, then delivered solo shots in the second and sixth innings off Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco (1-2) for his second career two-homer game. Wong, who also had an RBI single during a two-run ninth, has five homers in nine career games vs. the Guardians.
Abreu, who had two doubles and an RBI, is 13-for-25 in his past six games. Meanwhile, Criswell (1-1), pressed into action due to injuries, yielded three hits without issuing a walk in his fourth career start. He fanned three.
Criswell and two Boston relievers stymied the Guardians, who entered the contest a major-league-best 17-6. Jose Ramirez doubled for one of Cleveland’s four hits as the hosts had their five-game winning streak end while being shut out by Boston for the second time in 2024.
The Red Sox wasted no time getting to Carrasco in the first. Devers singled and scored on Abreu’s double into the left-center-field gap. An inning later, Wong cleared the wall in straightaway center field. Boston made it 3-0 in the fifth when Devers went deep over the tall wall in left-center field.
Wong put Boston up 4-0 in the sixth when he found the left field porch. Carrasco’s night ended right after via a single by Pablo Reyes, who eventually scored on Ceddanne Rafaela’s base hit off Tyler Beede.
Devers then dropped the ball just inside the left field foul line for an RBI ground-rule double to cap a three-run sixth.
Carrasco was charged with five runs and nine hits in five-plus innings.
