Whitlock and Bradley Jr. help Red Sox beat Reds 7-1

BOSTON -- — Garrett Whitlock pitched six strong innings and Jackie Bradley Jr. drove in four runs to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Wednesday night.

“Good,” Whitlock said of his outing. “A lot of quick outs, and me and (catcher Christian Vázquez) were on the same page.”

Whitlock (2-1) allowed five hits and one unearned run before two relievers completed the seven-hitter.

“Really good, efficient, kept the ball down, kept them off balance, we played good defense behind him,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora of Whitlock’s outing.

Boston got to Hunter Greene (2-7) in the fourth inning. Greene struck out seven batters in the first three innings before the Red Sox broke through.

“He has electric stuff,” Bradley said of Greene. “He can sit at 100 mph. He was able to locate pitches. He kept us off-balance early, and we were able to settle in and make some adjustments.”

Rafael Devers opened the fourth with a double. J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts followed with singles and Alex Verdugo had a run-scoring double. Two outs later, Bradley singled home Verdugo ending Greene’s evening. He gave up four runs in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out eight.

“Honestly, for me tonight, I lost the focus on staying present,” Greene said. “I felt very present in the first three innings. I slowly started to drift away in that next inning, in the fourth...That’s going to happen, but trying to lock back in as quick as possible is what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, that was a little more of a challenge tonight. I don’t want to think of it as an excuse, but looking back, I think that was a part of the issue in the fourth, trying to stay as present as possible.”

Boston added three more runs in the eighth inning off right-hander Jeff Hoffman, who issued three one-out walks to Bogaerts, Verdugo and Story (intentional). Bradley followed with a bases-clearing triple.

RAINER’S ROOM

Reds: OF Tyler Naquin was placed on the injured list with a left quad strain. OF Tommy Pham was scratched from the lineup because of left lower leg discomfort. He was available off the bench, and is expected to be in the lineup on Thursday. 2B Jonathan India, sidelined with a right hamstring injury, is expected to undergo an MRI on Monday. OF TJ Friedl was activated to take Naquin’s spot on the roster.

Red Sox: RHP Matt Barnes was placed on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. LHP Matt Strahm was reinstated from the COVID-19-related injury list, taking Barnes’ place on the roster.

UP NEXT:

Reds: Cincinnati opens a four-game series at Washington on Thursday. RHP Graham Ashcraft (1-0, 1.69 ERA) is scheduled to face Nationals RHP Joan Adon (1-8, 6.08). Ashcraft, who made his major league debut on May 22, is making his third start of the season, first against Washington.

Red Sox: Boston has an off-day Thursday before starting a 10-game West Coast road trip on Friday in Oakland. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 3.77) is expected to start, opposed by Athletics RHP James Kaprielian (0-2, 5.93).

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