BOSTON -- The first two games of the Detroit Tigers-Boston Red Sox series were low-scoring.

The third game was anything but.

The Red Sox scored nine runs -- eight earned -- off Rick Porcello and hit eight home runs Wednesday night on their way to a 20-4 pummeling of the Detroit Tigers.

Seven different Red Sox players combined to hit eight home runs, the most ever allowed in a game by the Tigers. Three came against Porcello, two each against Al Alburquerque and Jeremy Bonderman and one off Evan Reed. David Ortiz hit two home runs, one off Porcello and one off Bonderman.

Boston loaded the bases on a walk, a double and an intentional walk in the sixth, then scored to make it 6-4 when Porcello walked pinch hitter Mike Carp with the bases loaded.

Alburquerque entered the game at that point and surrendered a no-doubt grand slam by Will Middlebrooks that sailed over the Green Monster as the Red Sox took a 10-4 lead. The Red Sox tacked on three more runs against Alburquerque before the inning came to an end.

The teams combined for six runs in the first three innings. That's the same number of runs the teams scored in the first two games combined. The Tigers claimed a 3-0 victory Monday afternoon before the Red Sox bounced back for a 2-1 win Tuesday night.

KEY TO THE GAME

The game was a back-and-forth battle through five innings, but the sixth inning turned out to be the decisive one. Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster entered the game with a 4.75 ERA and struggled through five innings, but he struck out the side in order in the top of the sixth inning. Things went south quickly for the Tigers in the bottom of the inning as Porcello failed to retire any of the four batters he faced.

TIGERS HIGHLIGHTS

-- The Tigers bounced back for three runs in the top of the third inning. The Tigers had runners at first and third when Torii Hunter hit a slow roller to second base that couldn't be converted into a double play and allowed Jose Iglesias to score from third. Prince Fielder followed by hitting a two-run home run that sliced fair around the Pesky Pole in right field to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. The Pesky Pole sits 302 feet from home plate, which allows some balls that would slice foul at other parks to stay inside the pole in Boston.

-- The Tigers got out of the third inning on a nice double play featuring Iglesias, who took the throw from Porcello, hit the bag at second in full stride and then leapt over the sliding Shane Victorino while making a relay throw to first base for the final out of the inning.

-- The Tigers took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning when Iglesias beat out a potentially inning-ending double-play grounder to allowed Austin Jackson to score from first base.

TIGERS LOWLIGHTS

-- The Red Sox matched the Tigers run-for-run through four innings thanks to three home runs off Porcello. Stephen Drew yanked a two-run home run down the line in right field to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the second. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a solo home run in the third to tie the game at 3-3, and Ortiz led off the fourth with a solo home run to knot the score at 4-4.

-- Iglesias

left the game in the fifth inning due to bilateral shin splints

and is listed as day-to-day. Ramon Santiago replaced him at shortstop to start the bottom of the fifth.

-- Alburquerque allowed four runs on three hits and a hit batsman in two-thirds of an inning in relief of Porcello. Alburquerque did not allow a home run during the regular season in 2011 or 2012 but has surrendered five this season. Bonderman allowed five earned runs in one inning in relief of Alburquerque.

OTHER GAME NOTES

-- The home run by Fielder in the third inning was his 282nd career home run, which put him in a tie with current Philadelphia Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg and two other players for 159th on the all-time list.

-- The Tigers had runners on first and third with two outs in the fourth inning when Victorino made a leaping catch, then held on to the ball as he fell into the first row of seats on a foul fly ball to right field off the bat of Jackson.

-- David Ortiz doubled in a run in the sixth inning for his 2,000th career hit. Former Tigers outfielder Quintin Berry, who made his season debut as a pinch runner in the sixth for the Red Sox, scored on the double by Ortiz.

-- Berry singled in his first two at-bats in the majors this season. His RBI single in the seventh inning gave the Red Sox a 16-4 lead. He then added another RBI single in the eighth that made it 20-4.

-- The Red Sox won the final two games of the series and now lead the Tigers by 2 1/2 games for the best record in the American League.

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