Red Sox Stat of the Day: April 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Red Sox this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

April 30: Red Sox 6, Rangers 1 -- Four is Sox's magic number
With their early longball onslaught against the Rangers, the Red Sox improved to 14-0 this season in games in which they score four runs or more.

J.D. Martinez (two homers), Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts all went deep in the first three innings to stake winning pitcher Nathan Eovaldi to an early lead.

April 29: Rangers 4, Red Sox 1 -- Hits tough to come by
While the pitching is in rhythm, the offense has quieted, contributing to Boston going 7-7 in its past 14 games. In each of the past four games, the Sox have had five hits or fewer.

April 28: Red Sox 1, Mets 0 -- Winning the nailbiters
For all the talk about their offense, the 16-9 Sox are finding ways to win when they don't put up big numbers. In the 5-3 win over the Mariners, the Sox had five hits, followed by another five in a 2-1 win over the Mets on Tuesday and four hits in the 1-0 thriller over the Mets on Wednesday.

April 27: Red Sox 2, Mets 1 -- Comeback kids
After falling behind on Jeff McNeil's second-inning homer, the Red Sox tied the game with a Bobby Dalbec solo shot and took the lead for good on Rafael Devers' RBI single. With the win, Boston earned its Major-League-leading 12th come-from-behind victory. The Mariners have the second-most with seven. The Red Sox moved to 9-8 when their opponent scores first, and are 15-1 when holding the lead at any point.

April 25: Red Sox 5, Mariners 3 -- Rodriguez enjoys winning feeling
With his win in the series finale, Eduardo Rodriguez became the first Red Sox pitcher to win his first four starts of a season since Rick Porcello did so in 2018. Boston is 8-0 in Rodriguez's last eight starts, the longest stretch of victories in a pitcher's starts since the club won 10 straight behind Chris Sale in 2018 (June 24 to Sept. 21).

April 24: Mariners 8, Red Sox 2 -- Devers heats up
Rafael Devers, who grew up in the warmth of the Dominican Republic, has never been much for fast starts in cold-weather Boston. But he is turning that trend around this season. Since April 6, Devers leads the Majors with 18 RBIs. Over that span, he has a slash line of .323/.392/.662 with 13 runs, four doubles, six homers, 18 RBIs and seven walks. Devers is hitting .370 (10-for-27) with runners in scoring position this season. Devers was one of the few bright spots in the loss to the Mariners, smashing a pair of doubles off the Green Monster that both had exit velocities of over 100 mph.

April 23: Red Sox 6, Mariners 5 -- Martinez matches '20 HR total
J.D. Martinez recorded his seventh homer of the season, a solo shot to right field in the third inning. In 2020, Martinez hit seven homers total in 211 at-bats. The homer came on just his 74th at-bat of the year. Martinez's seventh homer also marked the most he's hit before May in his career -- his previous high through April was six with the Tigers in '15.

April 22: Mariners 7, Red Sox 3 (10) -- Homer parade continues
With his second-inning solo shot to open the scoring on Thursday, Rafael Devers joined J.D. Martinez and five others for the American League lead in home runs (six). Devers and Martinez are the first Red Sox teammates to hit six or more homers through 20 games since David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez did so in 2005.

April 21: Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 3 -- Bogaerts heating up
With his eighth-inning home run on Wednesday, Xander Bogaerts tied Trevor Story for the most homers (46) among Major League shortstops since the beginning of 2019. Bogaerts’ solo shot in Boston’s loss to Toronto was his second in as many games. The shortstop is batting .453 with a 1.198 OPS in his last 14 games, with two homers, eight RBIs and five walks.

April 20: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 2 -- Rodriguez extends streak
Eduardo Rodriguez has been consistent for the Red Sox as of late, compiling 31 consecutive starts of five innings or more. He has a 3.38 ERA in that span, and the Red Sox are 25-6 in those games. Only Shane Bieber (36 starts) and Justin Verlander (33) have longer active streaks in the Majors.

April 19: Red Sox 11, White Sox 4 -- Dalbec's 14-pitch walk the fourth-longest in Sox history
Bobby Dalbec worked a 14-pitch walk -- fouling off eight of them -- against Lucas Giolito in the first inning. Only three other Red Sox players have had longer at-bats that ended in a walk since 1988, when the pitch-count era began:

• Victor Martinez vs. Cole Hamels on June 13, 2010
• Alex Cora vs. Paul Byrd on April 27, 2006
• Danny Heep vs. Tom Henke on June 4, 1989

All three at-bats were 15 pitches long.

April 18: White Sox 3, Red Sox 2 (G1); White Sox 5, Red Sox 1 (G2) -- Martinez averaging more than one RBI per game
J.D. Martinez's RBI single in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader gave him 18, the most by a Red Sox hitter through 16 games since Shea Hillenbrand had 20 in 2003. This marks the third time Martinez has collected at least 18 RBIs during the first month of the season (22 in 2018 with Boston, 19 in 2012 with Houston).

April 17: Red Sox 7, White Sox 4 -- Bogaerts bashing
Xander Bogaerts' four-hit game lifted his average to .412, which is even more impressive given his 1-for-12 start to the season. Bogaerts has 20 hits in his past 39 at-bats, an eye-popping .513 average. He leads the Red Sox in average, hits (21) and on-base percentage (.464).

April 15: Twins 4, Red Sox 3 -- Verdugo stands in vs. Rogers
Alex Verdugo's game-tying, three-run double to left in the top of the eighth inning on Thursday against Taylor Rogers marked the longest at-bat of his career against a lefty. Verdugo, a left-handed hitter, had three previous at-bats of 10 pitches or more, but all against righties. Since his arrival in Boston, he's proven that he's more than a platoon player, with a .297 average in 98 plate appearances against lefties. He's actually been better than that over his entire career, notching a .302/.339/.437 line against lefties. But he clearly has more power off righties, against whom he has belted 18 of his career 22 homers.

April 14: G1, Red Sox 3, Twins 2; G2, Red Sox 7, Twins 1 -- Starting pitching proving a strength
After Boston owned one of the worst rotations in the Majors last year, the starting five has consistently kept the team in games this season. During their nine-game winning streak, the Red Sox's starting rotation is 6-0 with a 3.19 ERA. The starters have gone five innings or more in 11 of the 12 games this season. The pitching staff has allowed three earned runs or fewer in nine games.

April 13: Red Sox 4, Twins 2 -- Red Sox stay hot
The Red Sox are the first team since the 1991 Mariners to lose three or more games to start the season and then win at least seven games after. Those Mariners actually lost their first six games and then won their next eight.

When Boston started the season 0-3, there was panic that this would be a another season like 2020, when the club opened cold and never warmed up. But this team is turning into something entirely different, playing a well-balanced winning brand of baseball.

April 11: Red Sox 14, Orioles 9 -- Martinez chasing XBH record
J.D. Martinez, showing no ill effects from the cold that kept him out of the lineup on Saturday, picked up right where he left off and then some upon his return Sunday. He hammered three homers as part of a 4-for-6 performance that included four runs and four RBIs. With at least one extra-base hit in his first eight games of the season, Martinez tied Alex Rodriguez (2007) and Sandy Alomar (1997) for the all-time record going back to 1901.

April 10: Red Sox 6, Orioles 4 -- Red-hot Red Sox
The Red Sox are the first team since the 2012 Braves to start the season 0-3 and follow up by winning their next five games. They are the first AL team to do it since the 2003 Blue Jays. During their winning streak, the Red Sox have come back to tie the game in the ninth inning twice. They have scored six runs or more in all five games during the streak.

April 8: Red Sox 7, Orioles 3 -- Martinez's streak puts him on top
After grinding through the 2020 season with atypical futility, J.D. Martinez couldn't have started '21 any better. Martinez bashed a double on Thursday, marking his seventh consecutive game with an extra-base hit to begin the season. No other Red Sox player has ever done that, and only four big leaguers have accomplished that feat since 1901 (Alex Rodriguez, 2007; Larry Walker and Phil Nevin, 2001; Ken Griffey Jr., 1997).

April 7: Red Sox 9, Rays 2 -- Vázquez coming in clutch
Christian Vázquez is habitually timely with his home run. By going deep for a two-run shot that snapped a 1-1 tie on Wednesday, it was Vázquez's 22nd of 42 career homers that have either tied the game or put the Red Sox ahead. Vázquez also set up Tuesday's thrilling comeback win in 12 innings by ripping a game-tying, solo shot in the bottom of the ninth.

April 6: Red Sox 6, Rays 5 -- J.D. chasing Big Papi
Coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, J.D. Martinez is absolutely sizzling to start this season. Through five games, the DH is slashing .476/.522/1.000 with four runs, five doubles, two homers and nine RBIs. With two doubles, including the walk-off two-bagger that beat the Rays, 6-5, in the bottom of the 12th, Martinez became the first Red Sox player since David Ortiz in 2005 to have at least one extra-base hit in the first five games of the season. Ortiz ran his streak to six games, and Martinez will try to equal that on Wednesday afternoon in the series finale against the Rays.

April 5: Rays at Red Sox -- Fourth position for Marwin
Marwin Gonzalez made history on Monday night at Fenway Park, becoming the first Major Leaguer since 1900 to start the first four games of the season at four different positions. After starting Opening Day in left field, Gonzalez got the nod at second base on Saturday, third base on Sunday and then first base Monday night.

April 4: Orioles 11, Red Sox 3 -- Boston starts season 0-3
The Red Sox are off to an 0-3 start for the first time since 2012, when they finished in last place in the American League East. It's the 20th 0-3 start in club history, but it's Boston's first when starting the season at home since 1948. If you're looking for a positive sign, the '48 club regrouped nicely, winning 96 games and coming just one win away from getting to the World Series.

April 3: Orioles 4, Red Sox 2 -- Houck K's way to top of Sox charts
Right-hander Tanner Houck's 29 strikeouts through his first four appearances ranks second in Red Sox history behind Daisuke Matsuzaka, who had 31 in his first four starts of 2007.

Houck, Boston's No. 7 prospect, continues to impress every time he takes the mound. He has struck out 34.1 percent of the first 85 Major League batters he has faced.

April 2: Orioles 3, Red Sox 0 -- Bogaerts ties franchise record
Xander Bogaerts made his eighth consecutive Opening Day start for the Red Sox on Friday, matching Everett Scott (1914-21) for the club record at the position.