Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder homered Thursday in his return from a strained left oblique, helping Boston secure a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles to complete their first four-game sweep of the O’s since August of 2018.
Romy Gonzalez’s go-ahead single in the eighth inning proved to be the difference for Boston which went 7-1 on its eight-game road trip.
Trevor Story also homered for the Red Sox who lead the New York Yankees by a game for the American League’s top wild card.
Refsnyder missed 12 games with the oblique strain. The 34-year-old came into the day hitting .272 with six homers and 22 RBI in 54 games before serving as the designated hitter for Thursday’s series finale.
Alex Jackson went deep for Baltimore, which went 1-7 on its homestand against Houston and Boston. The last-place Orioles are a season-high 18 games out of first place in the AL East.
Roman Anthony drew a leadoff walk in the eighth against Rico Garcia (0-1), moved to second on Story’s one-out grounder and scored when Gonzalez ripped a single to left.
Garrett Crochet surrendered two runs in six innings for Boston. He struck out seven to raise his season total to a majors-best 214, two more than Detroit’s Tarik Skubal.
Jordan Hicks (2-7) then pitched a scoreless seventh. Garrett Whitlock got Boston out of a jam in the eight by striking out pinch hitter Dylan Beavers with two runners on to end the threat. Steven Matz worked the ninth for his second save.
Baltimore starter Cade Povich gave up solo home runs to Story in the first inning and Refsnyder in the fourth. He allowed two runs in five innings and struck out five.
The Red Sox also placed first baseman Nathaniel Lowe on the paternity list prior to Thursday’s game and activated right-hander Justin Slaten from the 60-day injured list. Boston also optioned lefty Jovani Moran to Triple-A Worcester.
Boston swept a four-game series from Baltimore for the first time since Aug. 10-13, 2018.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.