Wilyer Abreu clubbed his first big-league home run and was one of eight Red Sox batters to record multiple hits as visiting Boston cruised to a 17-1 drubbing of the Houston Astros on Thursday afternoon.
Abreu went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, two runs and a walk. Connor Wong and Alex Verdugo also had four hits and five other players had two apiece for the Red Sox, who earned a split of the four-game series.
All nine batters in Boston's starting lineup recorded at least one RBI and at least one of the club's season-high 24 hits.
The offensive showcase provided more than enough run support for Red Sox starter Brayan Bello (10-7), who gave up one run on nine hits in seven innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Alex Bregman drove in Houston's lone run with a single. Mauricio Dubon doubled twice for the Astros, who went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.
After Verdugo opened the game with a homer, Boston took command with a four-run second.
Pablo Reyes led off the inning with a single, and Abreu followed with his milestone blast. Luis Urias singled, Wong doubled and both runners scored on Rafael Devers' one-out base hit to make it 5-0.
The Red Sox kept pouring it on in the third, getting a run-scoring double from Urias and an RBI single from Verdugo to ignite a six-run rally.
Astros starter J.P. France walked Devers to load the bases following Verdugo's hit, prompting Houston manager Dusty Baker to turn to his bullpen. Brandon Bielak entered and allowed the first three batters he faced to reach base. Reyes then added an RBI groundout as Boston's lead ballooned to 11.
France (9-5) lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up career highs in runs (10) and hits (11). Bielak went on to surrender three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Bregman finally got the Astros on the board in the fifth, singling home Dubon to make it 11-1.
Following a two-run eighth, Boston put together a four-run ninth that included a two-run homer from Wong to cap the scoring.
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