BOSTON — With their offense mostly neutralized since the All-Star break, Alex Bregman is the player most capable of getting the Red Sox into gear down the stretch.
And when the moment called for it on Sunday afternoon, Bregman delivered in a loud way, mauling a two-run homer a Statcast-projected 400 feet over the Green Monster in the bottom of the fifth inning.
With one swing, Bregman turned his team’s one-run deficit into a one-run lead in a game which saw Boston beat the defending World Series champion Dodgers, 4-3, in the rubber match of a three-game series.
For the 57-50 Sox, it was a nice sendoff as they head to Minneapolis for their final three games prior to Thursday’s Trade Deadline.
And for Bregman, it is the latest sign he is starting to find his groove after missing seven weeks with a right quad injury.
The All-Star third baseman built off a three-hit performance on Saturday by smashing his 13th homer of the season against Dodgers righty Dustin May.
Roman Anthony, thrust into the leadoff spot while Jarren Duran moved to the No. 3 spot, set up Bregman with an RBI triple high off the Monster.
The Dodgers threatened to rally back in the eighth when lefty Aroldis Chapman walked Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts to open the inning. Though Chapman then came through with a huge out against Shohei Ohtani, manager Alex Cora removed the lefty after that out due to an undisclosed health concern.
Jordan Hicks came on and Teoscar Hernández hit a liner that second baseman Ceddanne Rafaela not only snared, but then lunged to the second-base bag to double off Hyeseong Kim.
