Cody Bellinger's grand slam capped a six-run third inning, and the Chicago Cubs rolled to a 10-4 home win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, evening the teams' first series out of the All-Star break
Chicago's third-inning eruption began when Christopher Morel drew a leadoff walk, Miguel Amaya got aboard when Boston starting pitcher James Paxton (5-2) hit him, then Patrick Wisdom drew another walk to load the bases.
Nico Hoerner scored Morel on an infield single, then Amaya came home on a throwing error by Rafael Devers.
A double steal moved Hoerner to third and Seiya Suzuki to second, then Ian Happ drew the third walk of the inning, setting the stage for Bellinger's grand slam. It was the eighth of Bellinger's career, and his first as a Cub.
Bellinger went 2-for-4 on the afternoon and now has 12 home runs on the season.
The Red Sox got on the board when Justin Turner's double in the top half of the fourth inning eventually led to Alex Verdugo sending him home on a ground-out RBI
However, Chicago added two more runs in its half of the fourth when Wisdom homered with Amaya aboard after a leadoff double.
Amaya finished the day 2-for-3, including a run-scoring single in the seventh inning. Wisdom went 1-for-3, and the home run was his 15th in 2023.
Every Chicago batter delivered at least one hit in the win. Happ joined Bellinger and Amaya with two, going 2-for-4.
Cubs starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (10-6) allowed just the one fourth-inning run in his six innings en route to the win. He struck out three and limited Boston to three hits
Reliever Julian Merryweather was tagged for two runs in the seventh, both earned, when Triston Casas hit his 11th home run this year to drive in Devers. Merryweather also struck out two in his one inning of work, and any threat the Red Sox could have built from the two runs off the Cubs reliever evaporated in the next half-inning
Amaya's RBI single was the second of the seventh inning after Morel scored Bellinger with a base hit.
Boston advanced runners to second and third with one out in the eighth but managed only one run on a Turner ground-out.
--Field Level Media