Tyler O'Neill homers twice as Red Sox beat Rockies to snap skid

The Red Sox needed a win like this.

Having faceplanted out of the All-Star break with four straight losses to start the second half, the Red Sox dusted themselves off and got back on track Tuesday with a decisive 6-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Tyler O’Neill led the way with two home runs, including a 465-foot tank that cleared the left-field bleachers, and right-hander Cooper Criswell delivered one of the best starts of the season, throwing a career-high seven shutout innings to earn the win.

The Red Sox took control early and never looked back. Jarren Duran, who became the first Red Sox player to start each of his team’s first 100 games to start a season since Don Baylor in 1986, reached base after being hit by a pitch to lead off the game. He quickly came around to score on an RBI double by Rafael Devers, who’d started the second half 1 for 16 through Boston’s first four games after the break, and then O’Neill crushed a two-run home run to put Boston ahead 3-0.

Boston kept pushing in the top of the second. Despite Romy Gonzalez getting picked off at second base the Red Sox still rallied for two runs when Jamie Westbrook walked, Duran singled and Rob Refsnyder drove in both with a two-run double, all with two outs.

Then in the third O’Neill delivered the exclamation point, smoking a solo homer so far that it landed on the outfield concourse. That gave O’Neill 20 home runs on the year, and when Masataka Yoshida immediately followed with a double the Rockies lifted struggling starter Ty Blach, who allowed six runs on seven hits over 2 1/3 innings.

It was by far Boston’s best recent effort against a left-handed starter, against whom they came into the game 12-18 on the season.

The Red Sox wound up stranding Yoshida at third and then squandered a bases loaded opportunity in the fourth, but Criswell made sure it didn’t matter. The Red Sox starter kept the Rockies in check over seven shutout innings, limiting Colorado to five hits and one walk while tallying four strikeouts in the thin Rocky Mountain air. Crucially, Criswell also picked up the Red Sox bullpen, which was heavily depleted after Monday’s 12-inning marathon.

Boston also dodged a huge bullet in the bottom of the sixth, when Devers appeared to injure his right shoulder on a diving attempt. The play was eerily similar to Trevor Story’s season-ending injury back in April, but Devers was able to get back to his feet and remain in the game.

In the following inning Devers started a 5-4-3 double play with a nifty cross-body throw to second, and in the eighth he stepped to the plate again and flew out to shallow right field.

Devers finished 2 for 4 with two doubles, a walk and an RBI, and O’Neill went 2 for 5 with the two homers and three RBIs. Brennan Bernardino followed Criswell out of the bullpen and struck out three in a scoreless eighth, and Greg Weissert shut things down in the ninth to close out the win.

The Red Sox (54-46) will now have a chance to take the series in Wednesday’s rubber game against the Rockies. Nick Pivetta (4-6, 3.87) will take the mound against Cal Quantrill (6-7, 4.15) for a 3:10 p.m. ET matinee.