BOSTON — It’s all looking routine for Rafael Devers. The home runs, the newfound consistency at third base and leading the Red Sox to victories.
And one thing is becoming increasingly clearer: With every day that passes, the superstar third baseman’s price just keeps going up.
Devers hit yet another home run — his fourth in as many games — and the Red Sox once again made easy work of the Oakland A’s with an 10-1 stomping at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.
With the victory, the Red Sox (34-29) won yet another series, their fourth consecutive one, and can sweep the A’s on Thursday with Rich Hill on the mound. They’ve won 11 of their 13 games to start the month of June.
Several of those victories have been fueled by Devers, who is looking like a surefire MVP candidate more than two months into the season.
The third baseman was at it again Wednesday. He reached base three times and scored three runs, including another towering moonshot in the second inning. With the Red Sox already leading 1-0 and with a runner on base after Jackie Bradley Jr. singled, Devers scorched a hanging change-up by James Kaprielian over the visitors bullpen in right field. Like he did Tuesday night, Devers admired his work for a moment before rounding the bases.
Devers’ 16th home run of the season — tied for fourth in the American League — put the Red Sox in cruise control and added him to another record list, which has become routine with almost any offensive accomplishment he makes. He became the first player 25 years or younger in Red Sox history to have two streaks of home runs in four consecutive games, and the sixth Red Sox player of any age to have multiple such streaks.
Other observations from Wednesday’s win:
Verdugo ends his drought
Alex Verdugo had been waiting for this moment for almost two months. It finally came on Wednesday night.
The left fielder finally ended his home run drought as he went yard for the first time since April 16, a stretch of 207 plate appearances. With J.D. Martinez on base after the Red Sox drew their seventh walk of the night — matching a season high — Verdugo crushed a 2-2 fastball on a line drive to right. He trotted around the bases slowly, seemingly soaking it in.
Verdugo recorded three of the Red Sox’ 13 hits and produced four RBIs as the Red Sox offense rolled over the A’s.
Winckowski looks much better
With two starters — Garrett Whitlock and Nathan Eovaldi — temporarily out of the rotation, the Red Sox turned to prospect Josh Winckowski to fill in for his second career start. His first start, on May 28 against the Orioles, didn’t go as well as he hoped as he went just three innings and gave up four runs on six hits and three walks in a loss.
Wednesday, however, represented a significant step in the right direction. The right-hander tossed five shutout innings against a woeful A’s lineup, and looked very much in control. He gave up four hits, but only one was hard hit on Ramon Laureano’s double in the third. Winckowski walked just one, the first batter of the game, and struck out three in his first career win.
Without Whitlock and Eovaldi, the Red Sox have looked just fine in their first turn without them. Their fill-ins — Winckowski and Kutter Crawford, who started Sunday in Seattle — have combined for 10 shutout innings.
