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Red Sox offense explodes in weekend sweep of the Cardinals

The Boston Red Sox offense put on quite the show at Fenway Park over the weekend, leading to a convincing three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. Rafael Devers is completely out of his season-opening slump, and the other big bats in the Boston lineup are heating up as well.

The Red Sox plated 36 runs over their three games against the Cardinals, capped off by an 18-run outburst in Sunday night's finale. Boston ripped off a season-best 22 hits to close out the series, which included nine doubles and a home run off the bat of third baseman Alex Bregman. Everyone in the starting nine got at least one hit for the Red Sox on Sunday night.

The Red Sox scored five runs in the second inning Sunday night and followed it up with four more runs in the third. It was the first time fans at Fenway Park have seen back-to-back four-run innings since the 2022 season, and the first time the Red Sox offense has done it since August of the 2023 season. 

That offensive explosion came after a dramatic, 5-4 walk-off win in Sunday afternoon's makeup game and Boston's 13-9 win Friday in the team's home opener. Boston had 18 extra-base hits over the weekend; 14 doubles and four home runs. 

Rafael Devers continues to surge

That 0-for-21 start to the season is way in the rear view for Raffy Devers. The Boston DH was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three RBI, and four runs scored on Sunday night, after he hit his first home run of the season in the afternoon game. 

In his three games at Fenway this season, Devers went 7-for-11 with two doubles, a homer, six RBI and six runs scored. He also walked twice to give him a .733 OBP in his three home games.

Devers has now gone 10-for-19 over his last five games overall, sporting an incredible 1.457 OPS. After striking out 15 times in his first five games, Devers has fanned just twice in his last five.

"Everyone knew that it was just a matter of time," Bregman said of Devers busting out of his slump. "He's one of the best hitters in the game. He has been for pretty much the last decade. He's an extra base hit monster. His swing decisions have been incredible. He hits the ball harder than anyone, and it's really fun to hit after him, because I get a front row seat to it every night."

Bregman continues to mash at Fenway Park

Welcome to Boston, Alex Bregman. The third baseman was 4-for-5 with his first homer of the season, two doubles, and six RBI on Sunday night. He was 6-for-13 with three doubles over the three-game sweep over the Cards.

The man simply loves hitting at Fenway Park. In 24 career games, Bregman is now slashing .387/.496/.774 with a 1.270 OPS at his new home park.

"The energy in the ballpark has been electric," Bregman said of the weekend series. "The fans have been amazing. Obviously, this is one of, if not the most treasured destinations to play baseball. When teams come in here, they're gonna bring their 'A' game, so we need to be on top of it, and we want to defend Fenway and play well at home this year, and I think we did a good job here in this first series. Let's keep it going."  

Kristian Campbell keeps getting on base

The rookie sensation was just 2-for-9 over the three games against the Cardinals, but he got on base in all three contests with four more walks. He's now reached base in the first 10 games of his MLB career, making him just the third Red Sox player to accomplish the feat alongside George Scott (1966) and Ted Williams (1939).

The Red Sox are doing everything they can to keep Campbell in the lineup, playing him in center field in Game 1 and second base in Game 2 on Sunday.

Wilyer Abreu cannot be stopped

The only thing that slowed Abreu down early Sunday was that he didn't start the first game. But he still had the biggest swing of the afternoon.

Abreu ripped an RBI double in the 10th inning Sunday afternoon to plate the game-winning run. It marked the first walk-off knock of Abreu's career. 

He followed that up with two more hits in Game 2, and he now sits atop all qualified hitters in baseball with a .483 batting average, a .595 on-base percentage, an .897 slugging percentage, and a 1.492 OPS.

The Red Sox are now winners of five straight and sit at 6-4 on the season. The team will welcome the Toronto Blue Jays into Fenway Park Monday night for the first of a four-game series.

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