The Red Sox won their fourth in a row last night against the Marlins.  They started out defensively, but rallied in the third.  Ryan Hanigan walked and Mookie Betts went to second on a throwing error by starting pitcher Tom Koehler, and Ryan Hanigan went to third.  Then Holt grounded out, scoring Hanigan and getting Betts on third, scoring first and making it 1-0.  Then Xander Bogaerts got another all star quality infield single to score Betts.  But they weren’t done.  Big Papi crushed and opposite field 2 run homer over the monster to give the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.  Ortiz had his fifteenth on the season, and is only nineteen shy of the 500 home run club.

Porcello was caught in another middle inning jam though.  It was first and second from singles by Dietrich and Michael Morse.  Realmuto knocked in a run with a third single.  1st and 3rd.  Cole Gillespie hit a fourth straight to knock in a second run.  1st and 2nd, 4-2 Boston.  But Miami wasn’t done, although they almost were.  Suzuki’s single loaded the bases, but Porcello got two clean outs to end the inning and got some strike outs in the other middle innings of the game.

In the 6th, Ortiz led off with a ground rule double.  Hanley Ramirez singled as he advanced to third.  Then Sandoval grounded into a double play, but that didn’t stop the Sox.  Ortiz scored, emptying the bases and extending the Sox lead to 5-2.

The 7th inning brought more offense.  Dyson had a throwing error, causing Alejandro De Aza to reach.  He went to second on the first out.  Then Mookie Betts struck out, and De Aza took off, and the third baseman couldn’t catch it, and De Aza scored on the left fielder’s throw.

Michael Morse homered solo in the 8th to make it 6-3.  But the Red Sox held on, and Uehara earned his 21st save of the season.  Breaking 20 saves is big for him, bringing him close to the best of closers.  The Red Sox swept the Marlins in a mini series.  They need to take at least 2 out of 3 from the Yanks to be for real.  Can they, with Jacoby Ellsbury and Andrew Miller, former Sox returing from the DL?