Villier Abreu hit two home runs – the second a go-ahead double in the seventh inning, giving him four homers in two games – and the Boston Red Sox cruised to a 7-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday to extend their winning streak to 12 games.
Abreu also scored two goals in Friday’s doubleheader.
Abreu’s hit off Garrett Clevinger (2-3) capped a four-run inning that erased a 6-3 deficit. Seddann Rafaela hit an RBI double and Masataka Yoshida scored in the inning.
Boston’s 12-game winning streak is the third-longest in franchise history. The Red Sox will have a chance to win 13 straight games for the first time since 1948 on Sunday in the series finale.
Ryan Watson (1-0) pitched two innings for his first major league win. Aroldis Chapman got the final three outs in his 21st save.
Trailing 3–2 in the fourth, the Rays took a three-run lead. Victor Mesa Jr. hit his homer in the Tampa Bay bullpen and Yandy Diaz added an RBI single.
Johnny DeLuca’s homer over the Green Monster made it 6-3 in the top of the seventh.
Making his second start after missing last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Boston’s Patrick Sandoval gave up five runs in five innings.
Tampa Bay took a 2-0 lead in the second when Ryan Vilade scored on a throwing error by second baseman Anthony Seigler and Nick Furias had an RBI single, but Jamiah Jones’ two-run homer tied the game in the bottom half after Andruv Monasterio correctly challenged a called hit that would have ended the inning.
Rays starter Ian Seymour lasted just three innings, allowing three runs and two homers after giving up a career-high six runs in his previous start.
With the win, Boston (49-48) moved above .500 for the first time since opening the season against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.