Dustin Pedroia had four hits and Eduardo Rodriguez tossed seven strong innings to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Minnesota Twins, 6-3, in the opener of a day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park Wednesday afternoon.
Pedroia went 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored and Xander Bogaerts had three hits and drove in two runs for the Red Sox, who have won the first two games of this four-game set.
Rodriguez (2-0) allowed just one run on two hits, striking out seven and walking two in just this second start. In his major-league debut on May 28, the left-hander yielded just three hits and struck out seven over seven shutout innings against the Texas Rangers.
Mike Napoli added a homer and David Ortiz had two hits and drove in a run for Boston.
Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar homered to account for the only Minnesota runs, as the Twins have lost three of their last five games. Dozier ended with two of the five Minnesota hits.
Boston took the lead in the first inning off Minnesota starter Phil Hughes when Ortiz doubled home Pedroia, but the Twins tied in the third when Dozier homered over the Green Monster in left.
The Red Sox went back ahead in the home half of the inning when Pedroia again scored, this time on Hanley Ramirez's base hit. Pedroia later singled home a run in the fourth to increase the lead to 3-1.
Two more runs for Boston in the fifth added to its cushion. Bogaerts' two-run single accounted for the runs, giving the Red Sox a 5-1 advantage.
Napoli added his ninth homer of the season in the seventh.
Escobar's two-run homer off Boston reliever Alexi Ogando in the ninth rounded out the game's scoring.
Hughes (4-5) was hit with the loss, yielding five runs on 11 hits over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one, suffering his first loss since April 24.
[SportsNetwork.com]
