Red Sox Rundown: Devers, Paxton get best of Padres to open series

The Boston Red Sox are in San Diego for a three game series against a struggling Padres team.

Not only is this an important late-May series for both teams, but it also has some sentimental value to it. This is the first series for Xander Bogaerts playing against his former team, since he signed with the Padres in the off-season.

Take those feelings out of it and it gives us a series of an over .500 team in the Red Sox along with a surprisingly under .500 team in the Padres.

The local nine started off on the right foot with a 6-1 series opening win against this Padres team. How did it happen for all of you that were watching the Celtics (including myself!) last night? Let’s break it down.

Boston Red Sox getting a quality start from James Paxton

James Paxton had an incredible first start against the St. Louis Cardinals. So fans were naturally curious on how the left-handed starting pitcher would fare in his second start. Safe to say, another good start in the books.

“Big Maple” gave the Red Sox six strong innings. He only gave up one run, on five hits, and had two walks to go along with five strikeouts. That’s what the Red Sox needed!

But it wasn’t as clean as the stat sheet might indicate. He ran into some trouble in the fourth inning with the bases loaded and a 3-1 count. However, Paxton was able to wiggle out of trouble with a pop-out, in foul territory, to Justin Turner at first base.

So while pitching well, it was also nice to see the lefty Paxton prove he can pitch out of jams. So far so good!

Boston Red Sox getting a huge night at the plate from Rafael Devers

To quote the great Stephen A. Smith, Rafael Devers is a baaaaaaad man. The star third baseman had an incredible first game of the series against his old friend Xander Bogaerts and the San Diego Padres.

The left-handed hitting Devers went 2-4 at the plate with two homeruns, four RBIs, and two runs scored.

He had a solo shot in the first inning to put the Red Sox up 1-0 early.

But what’s that old expression? Two is better than one? Well, that was the case last night as Rafael Devers went deep again with a three run shot in the top of the third inning. This was part of a Red Sox five run inning.

So with two homeruns on the night, Rafael Devers was the hitting star that carried the Red Sox to an easy victory.

Red Sox start West Coast trip off right

This was a great way to start a long West Coast trip! Good hitting by Devers and a solid start by Paxton led the way to a solid win. Now it’s time to win the series Saturday night.

You’ve got Chris Sale on the mound, who’s coming off an incredible eight inning performance against the Cardinals. A game he should’ve won by the way!

Win the game Saturday so you can play with house money on Sunday. A series win is always a positive. So winning the first game makes it that much easier to secure another series win like the Boston Red Sox have been doing consistently this season.