Red Sox 9, Diamondbacks 4: Rutschman's First Boston Homer

August 18, 2026 - Boston - Adley Rutschman singled Nick Sogard and Ceddanne Rafaela home in the first. Caleb Durbin hit a sacrifice fly. 3-0. Then Gabriel Moreno hit a grand slam, and Fenway had a game instead of a repeat of Monday's 11-1.

Rutschman answered with his first homer in a Boston Red Sox uniform, his ninth of the year, and Boston beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4. Mickey Gasper homered and singled in a run. Ranger Suárez (5-3) lasted 5 1/3 innings. First win since June 29. Thirteen more hits after Monday's 16. Eight Boston players had at least one.

Three in the first, a slam, then Rutschman

Merrill Kelly (8-11) walked the first inning into a 3-0 hole. Rutschman's two-run single. Durbin's fly. Wilyer Abreu had been on third. Fenway was loud in the way it is when a club just scored 11 the night before.

The third was Moreno. Suárez allowed two singles, then hit Corbin Carroll to load them. Moreno's 10th homer, a grand slam to center, his third career slam, a career-best 12-game hitting streak still intact. 4-3 Arizona. That was every run Suárez allowed.

Boston scored twice in the bottom of the third, including Rutschman's homer to right. 5-4. The fourth was empty. The fifth was Andruw Monasterio singling Willson Contreras home, Rutschman thrown out at the plate. 6-4. The lead was back. It did not leave.

Gasper again, then the bullpen

Gasper homered to center in the sixth, his second in two nights after Monday's first as a Red Sox player. Contreras singled Sogard home. 8-4. Jarren Duran scored on Gasper's single in the seventh. 9-4. Gasper finished 2-for-2 with two walks, a homer, and two RBI. That is a part-time bat turning into a two-night story.

Kevin Ginkel and Taylor Clarke inherited the late deficit and did not climb out. Tyron Guerrero, Erik Miller, and Wyatt Olds threw 3 2/3 scoreless behind Suárez. Olds, a day after his debut, got another clean inning. Arizona managed seven hits and did not score after the slam.

Line: Red Sox 9 runs on 13 hits, 1 error; Diamondbacks 4 runs on 7 hits, 1 error; Suárez 5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, all on the slam.

Boston is 68-58. Three of four. Arizona is 66-61, three straight losses, five of seven. Moreno did what a hot catcher does. The rest of the Arizona order did not add on. Rutschman, acquired from Baltimore at the deadline, finally left the yard in a Boston jersey. The two-run single in the first was the night-starter. The homer was the one the highlight shows.

A series Fenway already owned

Brandon Pfaadt (7-1, 3.11 ERA) starts Wednesday. Payton Tolle (8-6, 2.97) goes for Boston. That is a real finale. Tuesday was the middle game after an 11-1, and it still ended 9-4 because Rutschman and Gasper kept putting the next run on the board after the slam.

I would not call Suárez's 5 1/3 a gem. I would call the first win since June 29 overdue, and I would call Rutschman's first Boston homer the sentence that made the deadline deal look like a batting-order piece instead of a rumor. Gasper has now gone deep two nights in a row. Fenway will take that version of the bottom of the order for as long as it lasts.

Arizona has to stop the next slam from being the whole road trip. Carroll got hit. Moreno went deep. Nobody else finished the inning. Boston scored in five different frames. That is how 9-4 happens after 11-1.

AthX Engine angle

Boston finished with 17 AthX Engine team fantasy points, fourth on Tuesday's slate. Rutschman and Gasper each scored 10 hitting fantasy points. AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) graded the homer and the two-run single on the same Rutschman line, which is how a catcher's first Boston shot shows up next to a 13-hit night.

Explore the AthX marketplace for current player pages.

*Sources: ESPN box score, MLB.com gameday, CBS Sports, AthX Engine daily scoring for August 18, 2026. AthX Engine fantasy scoring is for information only and is not financial advice.*