DETROIT — Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers homered for Boston, and Eduardo Rodriguez won for the fifth time in his last eight starts as the Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 9-6 on Friday in a game delayed more than two hours due to rain.

Mookie Betts had three hits and three runs for the Red Sox, who won for the third time in four games.

Detroit dropped to 6-23 since June 1.

Rodriguez (9-4) improved to 5-1 in his last eight starts. He gave up one run on four hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out four before leaving following a rain delay of two hours and four minutes.

Ryan Carpenter (1-6) lost his third straight game. He allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out four and fell to 1-7 in 11 career outings at Comerica Park.

Betts started the game with a double off Carpenter and scored on a pair of groundouts. Boston added two more runs in the third when Betts led off with another hit — a single — and scored on Devers’ 16th homer.

Jeimer Candelario’s RBI double made it 3-1 in the fourth as storm clouds moved in. Heavy rain began to fall moments after Rodriguez retired Victor Reyes to end the fifth, and the game was immediately halted.

Both teams changed pitchers after the delay; both bullpens struggled.

When play resumed, Boston scored three runs off Jose Cisnero in the sixth. Jackie Bradley Jr. had an RBI double, Betts added a sacrifice fly and a run scored on Candelario’s error at third.

The Tigers scored four times in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-5. Candelario and John Hicks had RBI singles as Betts and Bradley committed outfield errors.

Bogaerts hit a three-run homer off Austin Adams in the eighth, making it 9-5. Hicks homered in the ninth.

VETERAN ANTHEM PERFORMER

Harold Lanning, a 91-year-old World War II veteran, performed the national anthem. Lanning performed in USO shows during his Army service.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: RHP Heath Hembree pitched the ninth for Boston, his first appearance since going on the injured list on June 14 with an elbow strain.

Tigers: C Grayson Greiner continued his rehab assignment with Class A Lakeland on Friday, going 0-2 in his third game. He has been on the injured list since June 15 with a lower-back strain.

TIGERS EXTEND AVILA

Before the game, the Tigers announced a multi-year contract extension for general manager Al Avila. Avila, who has held the job since Aug. 4, 2015, was under contract until the end of the 2020 season. The length of the extension was not announced.

Avila, who worked as an assistant to Dave Dombrowski from 2002 until replacing him, has been overseeing the rebuild of a team that lost 98 games in each of the past two seasons and is on pace to lose 107 in 2019.

UP NEXT

Detroit’s Jordan Zimmermann (0-5, 5.36) is to face former Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello (5-7, 5.07) on Saturday in the second of a three-game series. Boston is 4-0 in Porcello’s four starts against his former team.

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