PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Bobby Dalbec needed some loaner lumber to go on a Red Sox rookie record home run streak.
Dalbec homered for his fourth straight game, his two-run shot in the sixth inning enough to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 on Tuesday night and split a doubleheader.
Alec Bohm hit a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning to rally the Phillies to 6-5 win in the opener.
Dalbec homered in both games of the doubleheader, and the rookie first baseman has homered in five of his first nine career games. He’s the first Red Sox rookie to homer in four straight games - and he started the surge when he borrowed teammate Jackie Bradley Jr’s bat.
Dalbec picked up the bat in a recent series against Toronto and said “I couldn’t put it down.”
Now, he’s putting up rookie records that not even the franchise’s Hall of Famers have touched.
“It’s crazy,” Dalbec said. “I would never think that I would have some crazy stat like that and my name to be in there. I’m very fortunate to be in this position, so it’s awesome.”
Phillies reliever David Phelps, acquired at the trade deadline in an attempt to fortify the beleaguered bullpen, walked Bradley on four pitches to open the sixth. Dalbec homered two pitches later for the decisive shot that sent the Phillies to a crushing loss as they head into a lengthy road trip in Miami. Phelps (2-4) has allowed a homer in his last three appearances for the Phillies.
The Red Sox tacked on a run in the seventh to make it 5-2, and Marcus Walden got the final two outs in the ninth for his first save.
Chris Mazza (1-1) allowed two runs in five innings for the win.
Bohm continued his knack for clutch hits, coming through in the opener with Philadelphia down to its last strike. The rookie drove in four runs with three hits, including his winner off Matt Barnes (1-3) as the Phillies compete for their first playoff berth since 2011.
“We knew if Bohmer got up, he was getting the job done,” Phillies starter Zach Eflin said. “He’s just playing awesome baseball. It’s really cool to see someone step up like that on multiple occasions and come through for the boys.”
Bohm hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning last week to lead the Phillies to a win over Washington. He also had a tying hit in the eighth inning of Philadelphia’s win a day earlier against the Mets.
The Phillies started a run of five doubleheaders - all of them seven-inning games - between now and Sept. 22. That highlights a stretch of 19 games in 15 days, including a whopping seven straight games in Miami.
“We’re going to need all these guys in the bullpen,” Philies manager Joe Girardi said. “They’ve had some struggles lately.”
Hector Neris (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to get the win in an only-in-2020 one day, two-game series.
Rafael Devers homered twice and Dalbec continued his homer hot streak for the Red Sox. Alex Verdugo also hit one of Boston’s four solo homers.
Dalbec went deep off in the fifth off Tommy Hunter for Boston’s fourth solo homer of the game that tied the score 4-all. Devers admired a deep shot off Hunter that ended up off the wall and an RBI double for a 5-4 lead.
“It feels good just to have a good routine right now and keep it rolling,” Dalbec said.
Didi Gregorius’ sixth homer of the season was a solo shot off Martin Pérez in the second for a 1-0 lead. Devers evened the score with his eighth homer of the year on a liner to right.
Verdugo and Devers went back-to-back in the fifth to make it 4-3.
“We came back on ’em and got the lead and got the people out there that we wanted to finish the game,” Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. “It didn’t didn’t work.”
DOUBLE DIP
The Phillies will play doubleheaders Friday and Sunday at Miami, Sept. 18 vs. Toronto and Sept. 22 at Washington. The Phillies will play their first seven-game series since 1930 (8/16-20 vs. Chicago).
“We have enough pitching to handle all these doubleheaders,” Girardi said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Transferred OF Andrew Benintendi (ribs) to the 45-day injured list. … Added INF Christian Arroyo to the 40-man roster. … LHP Matt Hall was optioned to the alternate training site.
UP NEXT
Philadelphia sends RHP Jake Arrieta (3-4, 5.67 ERA) to the mound for the first game of a seven-game series that starts Thursday in Miami.
The Red Sox open a series in Tampa Bay on Thursday and have not announced a starting pitcher.
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