Masataka Yoshida has three hits; Red Sox beat Marlins 8-3

MIAMI (AP) — Kutter Crawford gave up three hits and one run in six solid innings, Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran hit home runs and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Miami Marlins 8-3 on Tuesday night.

Masataka Yoshida had three hits and Rafael Devers had two singles and drove in two runs for the Red Sox. Every player in Boston’s lineup had at least one hit.

“As much as we enjoy South Beach and hanging out here, sometimes you’re afraid of being slow after an off day,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “That wasn’t the case. We had some good at-bats and ran the bases well. And we played good defense.”

Crawford (4-7) struck out seven batters. It was the right-handed pitcher’s sixth consecutive start of at least six innings and his 12th of the season.

“The offense got out to an early lead and gave me an advantage,” Crawford said. “At that point, my job was to attack the strike zone with as many quality strikes as possible.”

Devers’ two-run single in the first inning gave Boston an early lead. Duran walked and Wilyer Abreu doubled before Devers hit a hard smash that bounced off the glove of first baseman Jake Burger and rolled into right field.

The Red Sox extended their lead in the fourth inning when Rafaela hit a home run, driving a fastball from Marlins starter Valente Bellozo (0-1) over the wall in left.

Burger put Miami on the board with his leadoff homerun in the fifth inning.

Back-to-back RBI singles by Connor Wong and Yoshida in the seventh inning made it 7-1, but the Marlins pulled back to within four runs in the bottom half thanks to a solo homer by Jesús Sánchez and a run-scoring single by Emmanuel Rivera off reliever Zack Kelly.

It was Yoshida’s first appearance at Depot Park since helping Japan defeat the United States in the final of the World Baseball Classic last year.

“It definitely brings back a lot of memories, good memories,” Yoshida said through an interpreter. “I’m really happy that it turned out this way. That I was able to take some hits today.”

Duran hit a 433-foot solo shot into the right-center field seats in the eighth. He’s gone deep in three straight games.

“I’m not trying to do anything different,” Duran said. “I’m trying to get on base and cause chaos. But I hit the ball hard and it goes out. As you can see, I’m sprinting around first base hoping it hits the wall.”

Bellozo was pulled from the game after five innings, giving up five runs, seven hits and eight strikeouts in his second major league start.

“It’s an interesting outing because he struck out eight, but when he got hit, he got hit hard,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “I don’t know how else to say it. It showed he’s not afraid and he’s going to go out there and attack. He doesn’t let guys walk and that’s what we preach here.”

Before the game, Miami designated veteran shortstop Tim Anderson for assignment. The 31-year-old Anderson signed a one-year, $5 million contract as a free agent in spring training and hit .204 in 65 games.