The Boston Red Sox lit up Dylan Bundy and the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday for their third win in a row at Fenway Park.
Alex Verdugo notched a home run on his 25th birthday then Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers followed with homers of their own. Altogether, Boston notched 12 hits in its 9-0 victory.
Meanwhile, Martin Perez turned in another rock-solid outing on the mound. The southpaw finished with six innings of shutout baseball while allowing only three hits and striking out five Angels hitters.
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Here are three quick takeaways from Boston's win, which brings its record to 25-16 on the season.
Bobby Dalbec is heating up
The rookie is beginning to look like the slugger we watched in 2020 and in spring training.
Dalbec hit two doubles and drove in two runs in the blowout win. That's now three straight games in which the 25-year-old has tallied two RBI.
The bottom of the Red Sox order has been subpar all season long, so it'll certainly get a much-needed boost if Dalbec can maintain this pace. There's no reason to believe he can't continue to provide some pop as he crushed eight homers in 23 games last season for Boston.
Martin Perez is giving the rotation exactly what it needs
Boston Red Sox
Perez Day has been a day worth celebrating for Red Sox fans lately as the left-hander has been excellent over his last four starts.
Saturday's Red Sox victory actually marked Perez's first win of the season, but his 1-2 record is deceiving. His latest outing marked the fourth straight game in which he allowed two or fewer runs while pitching five or more innings.
You shouldn't go into a Perez start expecting a complete game shutout, 10-plus strikeouts and electric stuff on the mound. The 30-year-old veteran is what he is: a solid arm at the back end of a rotation who can keep you in the game for five or six innings.
That's exactly what this Red Sox staff needs. The lineup will do the rest.
Xander Bogaerts is the best offensive shortstop in baseball
Fernando Tatis Jr., Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, the list goes on. There are a boatload of stud shortstops in the game right now.
Xander Bogaerts, at least right this moment, is the best offensive player of them all.
The 28-year-old veteran blasted his ninth home run of the season -- tying him for the league lead among shortstops --Â 446 feet onto Lansdowne.
Bogaerts leads all MLB shortstops in batting average (.354), hits (48), on-base percentage (.414), slugging percentage (.558), and total bases (83).
Those aren't just elite numbers for a shortstop. Those are numbers that could lead to some American League MVP votes if Bogaerts can stay hot.