BOSTON — The Red Sox mostly kept Mookie Betts in check as their former star returned to Fenway Park for the first time since being dealt away better than three years ago.
They weren’t so lucky with his teammates: Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy.
Freeman and Muncy combined for six hits and four RBI as the Los Angeles Dodgers erased an early 3-0 deficit and took the first game of a weekend interleague series, 7-4.
Trailing by two in the bottom of the eighth, the Sox had two on and two out when Alex Verdugo contributed his third hit of the night, a sharp single to right. But Connor Wong, inserted into the game as a pinch-runner, took too big a turn rounding second and was caught in an inning-ending rundown, taking the Red Sox out of a big scoring chance.
The Dodgers then tacked on a big insurance run in the top of the ninth.
Reliever Nick Pivetta had his worst relief outing of the season, charged with four of the seven runs. Two inherited runners also scored against him.
With the game tied 3-3 in the seventh, Pivetta invited trouble by walking two of the first three hitters he faced. That proved costly when Freeman stroked a run-scoring double to right and, a batter later, Muncy pulled a two-base into the right field corner, scoring two more.
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Staring at an early 3-0 deficit, the Dodgers didn’t get on the board until the sixth inning. Starter Kutter Crawford had limited them to just two singles over the first five innings, but Crawford got himself in quick trouble in the sixth when he yielded a leadoff double to Betts and a sharp single to right by Freeman.
In came Pivetta from the bullpen and out went the lead. First, Will Smith doubled to left to score Betts. Then, Triston Casas bobbled a grounder, enabling Freeman to score from third as Smith moved up to third. With the infield in, the Sox cut off a sharp grounder from David Peralta for the second out, but Kike Hernandez drove a single up the middle to plate Smith with the tying run.
Betts received a lengthy ovation in the top of the first as he stepped to the plate, doffing his helmet as he saluted the crowd, pointing to his ring finger in an apparent reference to the 2018 World Series title he helped win.
After that, it was back to business, and it didn’t take long for the Red Sox to strike first. Verdugo hammered the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the inning out to right field for his second straight leadoff homer.
An inning later, the Red Sox again used the long ball to their advantage. After Casas reached on an infield single to third, Trevor Story connected for his first homer of the year, a towering fly ball into the Monster Seats, giving the Sox a 3-0 lead.
Matinee Saturday
The middle game of the series will take place Saturday afternoon and will feature a pitching matchup between two lefties. James Paxton (7-4, 3.79) will be searching for his first win since Aug. 10, and will oppose the Dodgers’ Julio Urias (11-6, 4.15) at 4:10 p.m.
The series will conclude Sunday, with Tanner Houck (3-7, 5.08) starting for the Sox. The Dodgers have yet to announce their starting plans.
