Jeimer Candelario hit two solo home runs to propel the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Both home runs came against Boston starting pitcher Kutter Crawford. The first opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, and the second put the Reds in front 3-2 in the third.
Candelario has a team-high 14 home runs this season and has hit eight homers in June. It was his second multi-homer game of the month.
Cincinnati’s Jonathan India also slammed a solo shot for his fifth homer of the season.
Connor Wong (sixth this season) and Jarren Duran (seventh) hit solo home runs for Boston. Wong and Duran each had two hits in the loss, and each own 11-game hitting streaks.
Cincinnati’s Andrew Abbott (6-6) struck out 10 before he exited the mound with two outs in the sixth inning. He gave up two runs on four hits and walked one. Alexis Diaz surrendered one hit in a scoreless ninth to earn his 17th save.
The Red Sox struck out 14 times in the loss, which ended the team’s five-game winning streak. Rafael Devers struck out three times.
Crawford (3-7) went 6 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs (three earned) on five hits, struck out seven and walked two.
After Candelario opened the scoring with his first home run of the contest, Wong tied the game, 1-1, when he homered in the second.
India’s home run came in the bottom of the second and handed the Reds a 2-1 advantage. After Duran homered in the third to make it 2-2, Candelario’s second home run gave the Reds a 3-2 lead.
Cincinnati extended its lead to 5-2 in the seventh when TJ Friedl bunted with runners on second and third. Santiago Espinal scored on the play, and Luke Maile also scored when the ball went to the backstop after pitcher Cam Booser attempted to toss it to the plate with his glove for a throwing error.
–Field Level Media