Michael Chavis had a simple thought as he walked to the plate.
“A single scores him. Don’t try to be a Superhero and hit a home run or anything like that. Just need one,” Chavis said Wednesday night after his walk-off single in the 10th inning gave the Boston Red Sox a 6-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
J.D. Martinez homered in his third straight game and Boston recovered after blowing a five-run lead.
Martinez hit a two-run shot and Eduardo Rodriguez struck out 10 over six innings for the Red Sox, who won for the 12th time in 15 games. They split the two-game set to remain unbeaten (13-0-4) in their last 17 interleague series at Fenway Park.
Trevor Story had a two-run single but exited with a left knee injury after a collision with a Rockies teammate. Tony Wolters doubled twice for Colorado, which had won four of five.
Xander Bogaerts opened the 10th with a double on the first pitch from Chad Bettis (1-3). After Rafael Devers was intentionally walked, Chavis hit a grounder up the middle on the next pitch to win it.
“Pitches in the zone,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of the two-pitch rally. “You don’t get too many of those, especially late in the game.”
Brandon Workman (3-1) struck out David Dahl with two runners on to end the top of the 10th.
A night after Boston ace Chris Sale became the first pitcher in major league history to strike out 17 batters in seven innings — and Colorado matched a franchise worst with 24 Ks — Rodriguez had the Rockies whiffing again. They ended up with 16 strikeouts in all.
But, as on Tuesday when they rallied for a 5-4 victory in 11 innings, the Rockies overcame an early deficit.
“Going up against the world champs toe-to-toe, beat them last night, took them to the last round tonight, and they strung a couple of hits together there at the end,” Colorado manager Bud Black said.
The bigger concern is Story, who came out after colliding with outfielder Raimel Tapia chasing a shallow fly down the left field line in the ninth.
“I think the trainers right now are optimistic,” Black said. “Our medical staff looked at some of the replays on television. It looked like there was a collision and a hard contact to the knee. But cross our fingers that he’s going to be OK. . Right now, we’re cautiously optimistic.”
Boston built a 5-0 lead with two runs in the first and three in the third against German Márquez, who entered 5-0 with a 2.02 ERA in nine career interleague starts.
In the seventh, the Rockies loaded the bases with nobody out against Rodriguez. Ryan McMahon singled and Wolters doubled before Rodriguez plunked Charlie Blackmon with a pitch and was pulled. Matt Barnes gave up Story’s two-run single and, with Story running from first on a 3-2 pitch with one out, pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy bounced to second, scoring Blackmon to tie it.
Dahl had a sacrifice fly and Wolters a run-scoring double in the fourth to make it 5-2.
Mookie Betts’ RBI single made it 3-0 before Martinez, unlike his other three homers the past four days that went over the Green Monster in left field, drove a slider into Boston’s bullpen in right.
UP NEXT
Rockies: After a day off Thursday, RHP Jon Gray (3-3, 4.25 ERA) is slated to start the opener of a three-game series in Philadelphia on Friday against LHP Cole Irvin (1-0, 1.29).
AROUND THE MAJORS WEDNESDAY
The New York Yankees’ patchwork lineup came through again in a doubleheader sweep of the Baltimore Orioles. Gleyber Torres led the way with three home runs and Domingo Germán became the majors’ first eight-game winner. Torres belted two of the Yankees’ four homers in their Game 1 victory over the Birds, 5-3. Six of his eight home runs have come against Baltimore. Gary Sánchez and Cameron Maybin also went deep for the Yankees, who entered the twinbill with 57 homers in 40 games after belting a record 266 last year.
In the nightcap, German struck out eight over seven innings of one-run ball as the Bombers earned a 3-1 victory. Luke Voit had three hits and two RBIs to support German. Aroldis Chapman picked up saves in each game, giving him 11 on the season. New York has won 20 of 27 its last games despite currently having 13 players on the injured list.
_ Seven pitchers combined on a seven-hitter in the Rays’ 1-0 shutout of the Marlins. Anthony Bemboom produced his first major league hit and RBI with a second-inning double. The Marlins lost their seventh consecutive game and are on pace for 122 losses.
_ The Astros made it eight straight wins as Justin Verlander tossed two-hit ball over seven innings of a 5-1 verdict over the Tigers. Verlander struck out nine in his second start at Comerica Park since his 2017 trade from Detroit to Houston. Alex Bregman hit his 14th homer and Jake Marisnick added an RBI triple to help Verlander improve to 7-1.
_ Byron Buxton and Jason Castro each hit two-run homers and Ehire Adrianza added a two-run double while the Twins were building an 8-3 lead in an 8-7 victory over the Angels. Winning pitcher Jake Odorizzi had his scoreless streak stopped at 22 innings when Tommy La Stella homered in the third, and he allowed a two-run blast to Jonathan Lucroy in the sixth before improving to 6-2. Mike Morin retired Shohei Ohtani to end the game after the Angels scored three times in the ninth.
_ Ronald Guzman and Willie Calhoun each hit a two-run homer as the Rangers dumped the Royals, 6-1 to end a five-game skid. Shin-Soo Choo added a solo shot and Nomar Mazara matched a career high with four hits as texas beat Kansas City for the sixth time in their last eight meetings. Mike Minor was reached for just one run despite surrendering eight hits and two walks over five innings.
_ Edwin Jackson became the first player in major league history to play for 14 teams when he made his Blue Jays debut in a 4-3 loss at San Francisco, four days after being acquired from Oakland. Jackson allowed two earned runs and six hits in five innings, including a two-run homer by Aramis (ah-RAH’-mihs) Garcia. Brandon Crawford snapped a 3-3 deadlock with a solo blast in the sixth.
_ The Reds completed a 6-5 comeback win over the Cubs when Yasiel Puig hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning. The Cubs led 5-3 until Eugenio Suarez launched a two-run homer off Carl Edwards in the eighth inning. Chicago wasted a strong performance by Yu Davrish, who struck out 11 and allowed only two runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings.
_ Gio Gonzalez was reached for just one run while pitching into the sixth inning of the Brewers’ 5-2 victory at Philadelphia. Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in four starts since signing with Milwaukee following his requested release from the Yankees in April. Jesus Aguilar (AG’-ee-ahr) ripped a two-run single off Jake Arrieta in the third to give the Brewers a 4-1 lead.
_ Kenta Maeda struck out 12 batters and drove in both runs as the Dodgers downed the Padres, 2-0. Maeda gave up three hits in 6 2/3 innings and came within one of his career high for strikeouts. He also helped his own cause at the plate with two hits, including a two-out, two-run bloop single to right field in the second.
_ The Diamondbacks rolled over the Pirates, 11-1 as Zack Greinke pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning before exiting with a trainer. There was no immediate word on Greinke, who allowed four hits in 7 2-3 innings before walking off the mound with a 2-2 count on the Pirates’ Cole Tucker. Blake Swihart hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the eighth, and Eduardo Escobar and Adam Jones also homered for the Diamondbacks.
_ Austin Riley homered in his major league debut and Mike Soroka scattered three this over seven innings as the Braves blanked the Cardinals, 4-0. Riley was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game after Ender Inciarte went on the 10-day injured list with a sore back. Soroka lowered his ERA to 0.98 in six starts this season.
_ Patrick Corbin struck out 11 while limiting the Mets to a run and four hits over eight innings of the Nationals’ 5-1 victory. Anthony Rendon was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI in Washington’s fourth win in 11 games. Victor Robles homered off starter Wilmer Font, who was tagged for five runs in just 2 1/3 innings.