Jackie Bradley Jr. extends his hitting streak to 27 games
| Boston
Danny Salazar started the day on a nice run. That ended against the big-hitting Boston Red Sox.
David Ortiz went 4 for 4 with a solo home run and a double that sent a fan flying, Jackie Bradley Jr. extended his hitting streak to 27 games and the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2 on Sunday.
The Red Sox center fielder is seven games away from tying Dom DiMaggio, who has the longest streak in franchise history, hitting in 34 straight in 1949.
Salazar (4-3) gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings. He hadn't allowed more than three in all eight of his starts this season.
Ortiz doubled twice in leading Boston.
"He's hot right now," Salazar said. "When you get behind you have to throw him a strike."
Later, the right-hander asked: "I was wondering: Why is he retiring?" before saying he figured Ortiz wants to be with his family.
Indians manager Terry Francona knows Ortiz well after managing him with the Red Sox from 2004-11. He's impressed by the run and Boston's hot lineup.
"Wish he would have retired last year," Francona said, joking. "He's kind of on a different level right now. It looks like he's playing softball."
The Red Sox jumped on Salazar for a 2-0 edge in the first on consecutive RBIs singles by Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez.
"Man, a 40-pitch first inning, that's hard," Francona said. "Part of it was he wasn't commanding, part of it is that lineup from top to bottom is about as good as you're going to see."
Salazar was hit on a hard on the left calf early by a comebacker from Ramirez and stayed in the game.
Cleveland lost the last two after winning the series opener.
The Red Sox won for the 10th time in 14 games.
Bradley singled in the fifth inning to extend his string. It's the longest hitting streak in the majors since Colorado's Nolan Arenado had a 28-gamer in 2014.
Ortiz drove in three runs. His RBI double in the second put the Red Sox ahead 3-2, and when the ball bounced over Boston's bullpen, a fan came charging from his seat and fell into a fence trying to retrieve the souvenir.
Ortiz was a triple short of a cycle when another ground-rule double bounced into the bullpen near the center-field triangle.
Rick Porcello (7-2) went 5 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on five hits. Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 12th save.
Xander Bogaerts had three hits for Boston, extending his career-best streak to 16. Jason Kipnis had a two-run single for Cleveland.
Bradley extended his streak with a single to right. Dom DiMaggio owns the longest Red Soxhitting streak of 34 in 1949.
Bradley's hit came after Ortiz connected for his 514th career homer, a drive into the Indians' bullpen. This time, a fan tried to climb over a fence to catch the souvenir when it bounced on the bullpen roof.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Indians: RHP Austin Adams was recalled from Triple-A Columbus and LHP Kyle Crockett was optioned there before the game. The lefty got into 11 games, giving up six runs in 3 2/3 innings for Cleveland.
Red Sox: Manager John Farrell said C Ryan Hanigan is day-to-day with a bruised left hand after getting hit by a pitch Saturday.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Bradley will try to match Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, who is next on the Red Sox list with a 28-game done in 1985. Boggs' uniform number 26 is being retired by the team on Thursday.
BAD STRETCH
Cleveland's Mike Napoli had struck out in eight straight at-bats before lining out in the eighth against his former team.
UP NEXT
Indians: RHP Michael Clevinger (0-0, 6.75) is set for the opener and RHP Cody Anderson (0-3, 7.99) in the second game of a doubleheader at the White Sox on Monday.
Red Sox: Off Monday. LHP David Price (6-1, 5.53) looks to extend his streak of solid starts to three when Boston opens a three-game interleague series against Colorado on Tuesday. Price has given up three runs total in his last two outings.
