Bogaerts, Santana homer, Red Sox top Phils for 4th in row

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Xander Bogaerts and Danny Santana hit consecutive home runs in the sixth inning, Matt Barnes retired Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins to strand the potential tying run in the ninth, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Saturday night for their fourth straight win.

Nathan Eovaldi (5-2) ended a streak of three no-decisions, allowing two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.

“Any time a team is going well, the starting pitchers are giving you quality outings,” Eovaldi said. “With our lineup, if you give up two or three runs, you have a really good chance to win the ballgame.”

Four relievers combined for one-run, two-hit relief, and AL East-leading Boston improved to a season-high 11 games over .500 at 29-18.

“It was huge,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It didn’t look easy, but the pitching staff did an amazing job.”

Philadelphia has lost four in a row and six of seven, dropping two games under .500 for the first time this year at 22-24. The Phillies went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, left 10 runners on base and struck out 13 times — the 14th time in May reaching double digits and 29th time in 46 games this season.

“It’s hard to score runs when you strike out a lot,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “You can hit a ton of home runs and score a lot of runs and strike out, but we’re not doing that. We’ll continue to talk about approaches. We have some guys who have gotten off to slow starts and guys in some slumps. But I think we’re capable of doing better.”

Ronald Torreyes singled leading off the ninth and Jean Segura walked with one out. Harper grounded to first baseman Bobby Dalbec, whose off-line throw to second was reeled in by Bogarts as the shortstop managed to keep a foot on the base, with Segura waving an arm...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Bogaerts-Santana-homer-Red-Sox-top-Phils-for-16196951.php