Suarez hits grand slam, Nelson pitches six strong innings as Diamondbacks beat Red Sox 12-2

BOSTON (AP) — Eugenio Suárez hit a grand slam as part of a three-hit, five-RBI game, Ryne Nelson pitched six strong innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Boston Red Sox 12-2 on Friday night.

Suárez’s 19th home run was also the ninth grand slam of the season by the Diamondbacks, who continue to sit atop the NL wild-card standings. Arizona finished with 16 hits with Josh Bell and Geraldo Perdomo getting three hits apiece.

“The offensive numbers happen when you go out there and play loose and free,” Nelson said.

Nelson (9-6) gave up two runs and five hits while striking out seven and walking one to help Arizona win its fourth straight — all on the road. During one stretch, the right-hander retired eight straight and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning.

“(Arizona catcher Adrian Del Castillo) was hanging with me back there. Maybe they were thinking something else,” said Nelson, who was informed by the media after the game that manager Torey Lovullo said pregame he will remain in Arizona’s starting rotation.

“Can’t let that change anything. Have to stay with my process and go out there and give this team the best chance to win,” Nelson said.

Bryan Bello (11-6) took the loss for Boston, which entered the game trailing by 3 1/2 games for the final AL wild-card playoff berth. The right-hander was charged with five runs and seven hits. He walked three and struck out two.

“The walks put him in a bad spot. When you do that at this level, you’re going to pay the price,” Boston manager Alex Cora said.

Rob Refsnyder, a late addition to Boston’s starting lineup, hit a solo home run. Wilyer Abreu drove in the other run with a double.

“That was a tough one,” Refsnyder said after the Sox fell to 29-33 at Fenway Park this season. “We’ve been playing well on the road, but we’ve got to step it up at home especially with the fans still coming out and cheering us on. We owe the fans a lot better.”

Bello settled down after a rocky opening inning that saw Arizona’s first four hitters reach and score twice. Bell drew a bases-loaded walk while Lourdes Gurriel lifted a sacrifice fly that staked Nelson to a 2-0 lead before he threw a pitch.

Boston got one run back in the bottom of the first as Jarren Duran led off the inning with a double and scored Abreu’s double. It remained a one-run game in Arizona’s favor heading into the sixth when the Diamondbacks chased Bello from the game. The pitcher didn’t help his cause with a throwing error on an infield base hit by Adrian Del Castillo.

The hit-and-error sequence was followed by three straight run-producing hits that helped Arizona pull away. Suárez singled in one run, then Luis Guillorme doubled in another run. Perdomo stretched the lead to 5-1 with an RBI single.

Refsnyder’s eighth homer of the season landed over the right-field bullpens but that was as close as Boston would come over the final three innings. The Red Sox were on their second relief pitcher of the night as Suárez jumped on a 1-0 pitch from Josh Winckowski and sent it into the Green Monster seats for his fifth career grand slam.

Arizona added two more runs in the ninth as Perdomo doubled for his second RBI of the game and Corbin Carroll had a sacrifice fly.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: Manager Torey Lovullo announced before Friday’s game that LHP Jordan Montgomery will pitch out of the bullpen going forward. Signed by Arizona as a free agent after the season opener, Montgomery has a 6.44 ERA in 19 starts this season.

Red Sox: OF Tyler O’Neill was in Friday’s original lineup but was scratched 90 minutes before first pitch with finger inflammation on his left hand. ... LHP James Paxton’s season is over after the Red Sox transferred him to the 60-day injured list on Friday. The 35-year-old suffered a calf strain that forced him to leave his Aug. 11 start against Houston. ... Boston selected LHP Joely Rodriguez to the active roster. To make room, RHP Greg Weissert was optioned to Triple-A Worcester. ... Manager Alex Cora said SS Trevor Story (shoulder) could go on a rehab assignment sometime over the next two weeks. Story hasn’t appeared in an MLB game since undergoing surgery in April. ... LHP Rich Hill tossed two innings for Worcester on Friday night. The Red Sox signed Hill to a minor-league deal earlier in the week.

UP NEXT

Arizona RHP Zac Gallen (9-8, 3.85) is scheduled to start Saturday against Boston RHP Kutter Crawford (8-10, 4.25).

AP MLB: https://www.apnews.com/hub/mlb

Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu, left, celebrates after his RBI double during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Boston Red Sox's starting pitcher Brayan Bello throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Bell, foreground, draws a walk with the bases loaded that scored Corbin Carroll, back. right, during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo, center, scores near starting pitcher Brayan Bello (66) and catcher Danny Jansen, right, on a double by Luis Guillorme during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Luis Guillorme watches his RBI double during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Boston Red Sox's Rob Refsnyder hits a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

From left to right, Arizona Diamondbacks outfielders Jake McCarthy, Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. celebrate after defeating the Boston Red Sox in a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Ryne Nelson throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suárez, third from left, celebrates after his grand slam that also drove in Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (12), Josh Bell (36) and Joc Pederson (3) during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suárez runs on his grand slam during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes.

“While some politicians were trying to make sensible things sound crazy, scientists discovered some crazy-sounding things that make a lot of sense,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an e-mail interview.

The ceremony started with Kees Moliker, winner of 2003 Ig Noble for biology, giving out safety instructions. His prize was for a study that documented the existence of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.

“This is the duck,” he said, holding up a duck. “This is the dead one.”

After that, someone came on stage wearing a yellow target on their chest and a plastic face mask. Soon, they were inundated with people in the audience throwing paper airplanes at them.

Then, the awards began — several dry presentations which were interrupted by a girl coming on stage and repeatedly yelling “Please stop. I'm bored.” The awards ceremony was also was broken up by an international song competition inspired by Murphy's Law, including one about coleslaw and another about the legal system.

The winners were honored in 10 categories, including for peace and anatomy. Among them were scientists who showed a vine from Chile imitates the shapes of artificial plants nearby and another study that examined whether the hair on people's heads in the Northern Hemisphere swirled in the same direction as someone's hair in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other winners include a group of scientists who showed that fake medicine that causes side effects can be more effective than fake medicine that doesn't cause side effects and one showing that some mammals are cable of breathing through their anus — winners who came on stage wearing a fish-inspired hats.

Julie Skinner Vargas accepted the peace prize on behalf of her late father B.F. Skinner, who wrote the pigeon-missile study. Skinner Vargas is also the head of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.

“I want to thank you for finally acknowledging his most important contribution,” she said. “Thank you for putting the record straight.”

James Liao, a biology professor at the University of Florida, accepted the physics prize for his study demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.

“I discovered that a live fish moved more than a dead fish but not by much,” Liao said, holding up a fake fish. “A dead trout towed behind a stick also flaps its tail to the beat of the current like a live fish surfing on swirling eddies, recapturing the energy in its environment. A dead fish does live fish things.”

Professor James Liao displays a stuffed fish while accepting a prize for physics for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A team of researchers perform a demonstration during a performance showing that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus while accepting the 2024 Ig Nobel prize in physiology at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People in the audience throw paper airplanes toward the stage during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)