Red Sox rock 5 HRs in 1st 3 innings for 2nd time in franchise history

TORONTO -- Clearly, the Boston bats had no trouble clearing customs.

And to say Jarren Duran was a tone-setter when he belted the third pitch of Tuesday night’s game at Rogers Centre over the wall in right field would be an understatement.

The Red Sox belted five homers (Duran, Alex Bregman, Kristian Campbell, Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu) in the first three innings of their 10-2 win over the Blue Jays.

How rare is that in the context of recent club history? The only previous time it happened was Sept. 8, 2009, when the wind was surely blowing out at Fenway Park.

In that 10-0 romp over the Orioles, the early onslaught of dingers was provided by Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis (first inning), Alex Gonzalez (second inning) and Pedroia and J.D. Drew (third inning).

After a 13-3 romp over the Guardians on Sunday, Monday’s off-day didn’t stall the momentum of a suddenly-surging Red Sox offense.

And the fact the lineup is starting to click from top to bottom is what pleased the Red Sox most about Tuesday’s power-packed performance. All five homers were belted against Jays righty starter Bowden Francis.

“I've been saying all along, they've been working hard with [hitting coach] Pete [Fatse] and the group,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Obviously there's a few adjustments that we have to make. Today was a challenge because of [Francis’] fastball, and we've been exposed this year by four-seamers. We did a good job covering it and taking it away, and then after that, they just put together good at-bats after good at-bats.”

Nobody took better at-bats than Bregman, who had three hits (including a solo homer hooked just fair down the line in left) while scoring three times.

“I think we're doing a good job of controlling the strike zone, squaring up the baseball and just stringing some innings together, getting guys on base, getting traffic,” said Bregman. “And I think good things can happen when we get guys on base.”

Meanwhile, great things can happen for the Red Sox when Devers gets hot. While that’s been elusive for the star slugger making the adjustment to being a DH this year, there are signs an eruption is near.

The homer by Devers on Tuesday, a bullet into the second deck in right, was his third in the past four games. During that span, he’s 6-for-17.

“Keep having good at-bats,” said Devers. “I think that has been the key for me [of late], is just going out there and not giving up at-bats”

By the time Abreu completed the quintet with a three-run shot to right-center that traveled a Statcast-projected 422 feet, the Red Sox built a 7-0 lead for ace Garrett Crochet, who cruised over seven strong innings (four hits, two runs, six strikeouts).

Crochet criticized himself after his last start for trying to be too fine in a loss to the Mariners. Having a cushion to work with only emphasized his mission of going after the Toronto batting order.

“That kind of allowed me to just be competitive in the zone, to be honest,” said Crochet. “I know I still had the three walks, but they're not like my walks in past starts. They were competitive all the way through.”

One of the big reasons the Red Sox (17-14) are expected to be far more competitive this season than they were in the past three? The additions of Crochet and Bregman.

The value of a true ace and a professional hitter was on full display Tuesday.

“Something that he does that not a lot of people in the league do is being totally free with giving the other pitcher a free strike and then still putting together a quality at-bat every time,” Crochet said. “And I think that's a very unique skill that he does. The way that he looks at hitting in general and even looks at pitching, it's helped out the entire team.”

While Bregman isn’t big on talking about his own heroics, he enjoys discussing a lineup that appears to be finding its groove.

“I feel like early in the year, you’re getting a feel for things,” said Bregman. “I feel like our team was maybe pressing a little bit with runners in scoring position, trying to do a little too much, and now guys are just sticking to their approach, getting more in the flow of the season. I feel like we have a really good offense. We’ve just got to be ourselves.”