Hanley Ramirez Launches Red Sox Into First Place

The Red Sox showed off their new starting pitcher, but it was their relentless offense and a patchwork bullpen that lifted Boston to an 11-7 win over San Francisco - and first place in the AL East - Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

Hanley Ramirez had possibly his best game since signing with Boston, banging out a career-high three home runs and six RBIs and making some terrific plays at first base. Sandy Leon continued to slug with a home run and a triple, and Travis Shaw also left the yard for Boston, winners of eight of nine. The victory put them a half-game ahead of Baltimore in the division.

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It wasn't all pretty for the home team. Drew Pomeranz, the All-Star lefthander acquired from San Diego for highly touted pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza, was spotted an 8-0 lead before imploding in the fourth. He allowed five runs on eight hits in 3-plus innings of work.

Matt Barnes got the win out of the bullpen, firing three shutout innings and wiggling out of a bases-loaded situation when Ramirez started a double play. Barnes was the star of a beat-up bullpen that is now missing Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, and Craig Kimbrel.