Bogaerts belts 2 to reach 30 homers, join Nomar

DENVER -- There was a time Xander Bogaerts was overshadowed by Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa among the elite American League shortstops. That time has passed.

Bogaerts has turned into a beast, and his breakout season added a new milestone on Wednesday night.

With the right-handed hitter mashing two homers to pace the Red Sox in a 7-4 victory over the Rockies, he reached 30 homers for the first time in his career while notching 100 RBIs for the second consecutive season.

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In so doing, he became Boston's first 30-100 player at shortstop since former franchise icon Nomar Garciaparra accomplished the feat in 1998.

Though Derek Jeter was the player Bogaerts always wanted to be when he grew up watching baseball in Aruba, Garciaparra was also someone who caught his attention at a young age.

"Yeah, the [pulling at the] batting gloves. I liked him. Especially playing video games," Bogaerts said. "Obviously he was so awesome and such a great player for this team throughout his career. Injuries obviously kept him back a little, but he was amazing."

The power surge by Bogaerts -- which also included his 46th double -- came at a good time as the Red Sox took both games in Colorado and are 4-1 on an eight-game road trip that has one more stop -- Anaheim this weekend.

With the Athletics and Rays both losing on Wednesday, the defending World Series champs are five behind Oakland for the second AL Wild Card spot and four back of Tampa Bay.

In what has been a challenging title defense so far, the Red Sox have shown signs of life of late, winning nine of their last 12 to move 10 games above .500 for the first time since July 30.

While it has to be somewhat comforting for the Red Sox to have the teams they are chasing back in sight, manager Alex Cora isn't ready to talk standings just yet.

"September 1, we'll talk about it," Cora said. "I've been saying that since April, I'm not going to deviate from that. I know where we are, how talented we are. We just have to do it on the field, and we're playing good baseball."

At times, Boston looked all but done, such as when it faced an 8 1/2-game deficit in the AL Wild Card standings on Aug. 12.

But thanks to hitters like Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez (two-run homer in the third), Rafael Devers (homer, triple, single to snap an 0-for-15 drought) and Mookie Betts, the Sox are still breathing in their quest to get back to October.

One of the most fortuitous moments of 2019 for Boston happened on the first road trip of the season, when Bogaerts avoided playing out his walk year by signing a six-year, $120 million extension.

And the 26-year-old has spent this season playing like the cornerstone the Red Sox envision he will be for years to come.

"He's been swinging like that the whole season, driving the ball all over the place," Cora said. "Thirty and 100, hitting for average, that's kind of like the icing on the cake. We talked last year about driving the ball and doing damage, and now he understands he can hit for average and at the same time slugging.

"If he's not the best shortstop in the league, well, he's in the conversation, and that's what we wanted. I'm very proud he's doing this, and I'm very happy he's going to be here for a while."

Eduardo Rodriguez, who earned his 16th win by battling the challenging elements of Coors Field through five gritty innings, beamed when talking about his shortstop.

"He's like my brother here," Rodriguez said. "I feel happy the way he's been hitting the ball and everything. I mean, it's crazy to see him hitting homers everywhere, RBIs, everything."

If last year (.288/.360/.522, 23 homers, 103 RBIs) seemed like the ceiling for Bogaerts, he has proved otherwise in 2019 (.311/.389/.577).

"Honestly, coming into the season, you don't have that on your mind," Bogaerts said. "I don't think you're going to put any of those type of expectations on yourself. I just felt like once I was getting closer to it, you try to go ahead and try to get it. Obviously it's been working out so far, but I don't think you come into the year hoping you get 30 homers."

Bogaerts has another month to pad what is already a stellar stat line. And if things go the way he hopes, all those additional numbers will be put up in the heart of a pennant race.