BOSTON — Tyler O’Neill has been limited to five games in June because of knee discomfort. But he’s 7-for-16 (.438) in those five games.
“We all know TO’s a dog and he’s going to come out and hit homers like he does and absolutely play great defense,” Red Sox’ Jarren Duran said.
O’Neill did both those things Thursday. He blasted a 430-foot three-run homer in the fourth inning off Phillies starter Aaron Nola and made a running catch in the eighth inning. He helped lead the Red Sox 9-3 over the Phillies at Fenway Park.
Philadelphia scored three runs in the top of the fourth to cut its deficit to 4-3. But the Red Sox answered immediately with four runs in the bottom half. David Hamilton’s two-out RBI single made it 5-3, then O’Neill’s blast (108.4 mph off the bat) made it 8-3.
“We were able to have a good bounce-back inning,” O’Neill said. “Obviously that was a big swing for them. But we came out and we were able to punch them right back. Obviously we did a good job. And a couple big swings from us did the damage.”
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O’Neill connected on an 0-for-1 cutter from Nola who allowed 11 hits, tying for the most hits the Phillies righty has given up in a game in his career.
“It’s always good to square the ball up,” O’Neill said. “It just came off good. I was just trying to look for something on the plate to do some damage with. So got that one good.”
Duran scored on O’Neill’s homer after he walked with two outs. The 27-year-old had another big game with two doubles, including a two-run double in the second inning.
Duran has a team-leading 20 multi-hit games, including six multi-hit games in June when he has batted .370 (17-for-46) with two homers, four doubles, two triples, seven RBIs and seven walks.
“He’s doing it all out there for us,” O’Neill said about Duran. “He’s slugging the ball. He’s using the whole field. His speed is just killer out there, too. He’s a table setter for us. We wouldn’t want any other guy at the top of our lineup. Just gotta knock him in after he gets on.”
Boston ripped a season-high seven doubles. Duran and Enmanuel Valdez each had two doubles. Reese McGuire, Ceddanne Rafaela and Rafael Devers each had one double.
“I think we’re got a bunch of guys on this team that are stepping up really huge and I’m really proud of everybody on this team,” Duran said.
Nola had held left-handed batters to just a .168 batting average in his first 13 starts. But McGuire, Hamilton, Duran and Dominic Smith — all left-handed hitters — had RBI hits against him.
“We didn’t try to do too much,” Duran said. “We were just keeping it simple and passing the baton to the next guy.”
O’Neill went 2-for-5. He left last Friday’s game in Chicago with right knee discomfort, then didn’t play Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. He returned Wednesday as the DH and played right field here Thursday. He made a running catch on Edmundo Sosa’s 226-foot fly out for the first out of the eighth inning.
“It was hurting me for a little bit,” O’Neill said about the knee. “Unfortunately in Chicago, it tweaked on me a little bit. But AC (Alex Cora), Brez (chief baseball officer Craig Breslow), they’ve been really good and working with me and just trying to make sure I’m getting the recovery time that I need.”
The series win marked Boston’s first against an above .500 team this season. Philadelphia entered Thursday with the major’s second best winning percentage (.687) behind only the Yankees (.690).
Now the Yankees come to town for three games this weekend.
“I’m looking forward to it,” O’Neill said. “Definitely looking forward to it. I’m assuming Fenway is going to be buzzing. It’s going to be loud and I can’t wait to be part of that atmosphere.”
