C Sandy Leon came up with the biggest hit of the night, a two-run, two-out single in the fifth to give the Red Sox a 6-0 cushion. Leon has 29 RBIs and raised his batting average to .241.

C Sandy Leon, who is active despite a knee injury, could start by Sunday, according to manager John Farrell.

C Sandy Leon entered the game in the ninth inning on Saturday night, cut speedster Terrance Gore down stealing, led the 10th inning with a double and then eluded the tag at home with the winning run. "It goes to Sandy's readiness to make a throw as he did," manager John Farrell said. "Some may say it's a risky move to make a change with a catcher late, but Sandy came up big on both sides of the ball -- the leadoff double, the cutdown of Gore and the acrobatic slide to finish it."

C Sandy Leon singled in the sixth inning Saturday to extend his hit streak to five games. He went 2-for-4 in the 7-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays and during his streak is 9-for-20 with a home run and six RBIs.

-C Sandy Leon hit a two-run homer and two-run double in Friday night's win. It was his second four-RBI game of the season and the fourth of his career. He also had a single, tying his season high of three hits. "We got a good team," said Leon. "I think we were going to just get a win for David (Ortiz) today. He deserved that."

C Sandy Leon gave the Red Sox plenty of offense last year but struggled in the first part of this season until recently. Leon broke an 0-for-11 skid with a single off Orioles LHP Alec Asher during the 3-2 loss on Friday. Leon now has a .300 average in his last eight road games, and he is batting .233 overall.

C Sandy Leon continued his late-inning heroics with a two-run, ground-rule double Friday against the Rays. Eleven of his 13 RBIs this season have come in the seventh or later. He is batting .346 (9-for-26) in that time frame but just .230 overall.

C Sandy Leon homered twice on Sunday for his first career multi-homer game. He had three homers in the three-game series in Minnesota and homered in back-to-back games for the second time in his career. Leon is now hitting .246 this season.

C Sandy Leon's groundout plated the winning run in the eighth inning and also gave Leon his third game-winning RBI in just his eighth game. He had just two game winners entering this season, both recorded last year.

C Sandy Leon has taken hold of the starting catching job for Boston with his glove, brain and bat. "He's doing such a great job on both ends of the game and has come up with some really big hits for us in these last 3-4 ball games," manager John Farrell said. Leon helped starter Rick Porcello adjust to what Detroit was doing to him Sunday and keyed the winning four-run eighth with a two-run single that broke a 4-4 tie. "Certainly, what he did last year, that's not a fluke," Farrell said. "That's a large number of at-bats last year that he was very productive. To see what he's doing from both sides of the plate is very encouraging. He's taken it. He's earned it. I think we all have trust in Sandy. Particularly the guys that walk to the mound."

C Sandy Leon made up for an earlier miscue with his walk-off three-run homer Wednesday against the Pirates. Leon was thrown out after blowing through a stop sign to end the third inning, but he sent an 0-1 fastball into the Green Monster seats in left in the 12th inning to win it. It was Leon's first career walk-off hit. "He certainly redeemed himself with the final swing tonight," Red Sox manager John Farrell said.

Max Scherzer looked ready for the start of the season, going five scoreless innings and fanning seven as the Washington Nationals blanked a split New York Mets squad 6-0 on Monday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Bryce Harper belted a two-run homer and a solo shot while Trea Turner cracked two solo homers. Tim Tebow started in left field for the Mets and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.Red Sox 11, Orioles 9Sandy Leon homered twice, including a grand slam, in a nine-run fifth inning as Boston outscored Baltimore in Sarasota, Fla. Steve Selsky also homered for the Red Sox while Mitch Moreland was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Cedric Mullins and Johnny Giavotella belted homers for the Orioles while Mark Trumbo was 3-for-4 with a run.Mets (ss) 5, Marlins 0T.J. Rivera's three-run homer capped a five-run sixth that lifted a New York split squad to a win over Miami in Jupiter, Fla. Zack Wheeler tossed five shutout innings for New York, giving up just two hits and fanning three. Tom Koehler whiffed seven in 5 2/3 innings and didn't allow an earned run for the Marlins.

C Sandy Leon has been one of Boston's biggest surprises on offense this season. However, he was hitless in his last 17 at-bats before lining an RBI single in the second inning Thursday. Leon finished the night 1-for-3 and still holds has a .322 average.

C Sandy Leon has two hits and two RBIs and also threw Logan Forsythe out trying to steal second base in the first inning Monday. Opposing runners are 27-for-50 (54 percent) with Leon catching in a Red Sox uniform, the lowest success rate against any Boston catcher since 1987 (minimum 20 games).

DH Sandy Leon stood in for David Ortiz as Boston's designated hitter on Thursday and led off the fourth inning with his seventh home run of the season. "Probably the one difference (in our starting lineup Thursday) was the way Sandy's been swinging the bat, we wanted an additional right-handed bat in the lineup (against LHP Matt Boyd of Detroit). He's in the DH slot." Ortiz, who pinch-hit in the ninth and singled, can be expected to start at DH Friday night.

C Sandy Leon saw a hitting streak end Tuesday but continued his breakout season with a two-run homer Wednesday. Before 2016, Leon had a .187 career average with one homer and eight RBIs in parts of four seasons with Washington and Boston. This season, he is hitting .383 with six homers and 23 RBIs in 43 games.

C Sandy Leon raised his batting average to .390 in 123 at-bats with two more hits, including his fifth homer. He has 15 multi-hit games, 10 since July 1 and has homered in each of his team's last three inter-league series.

C Sandy Leon homered and tied a career high with four RBIs Friday. Leon, who is batting .374 in 107 at- bats, hit a two-run blast off Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir in the fourth inning.

C Sandy Leon recorded a career-high four RBIs Saturday, highlighting the most productive showing of his 95-game career with a massive three-run home run off LHP CC Sabathia. "It was a great swing off the bat," Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. said. Bradley watched the ball sail out from third base. "It sounded good. It looked good and I'm glad Sandy hit it." Leon is hitting .458 (27-for-59) and has reached safely in 16 of the 20 games he has played this season.

C Sandy Leon continued to show he belongs with the major league club by stroking three more hits Monday. His three doubles and a single made him 20-for-40 on the season, and he has won his spot on the roster as fellow backstop Chrisitan Vazquez will be sent down to Triple-A Pawtucket upon Ryan Hanigan's return. He came into this season with 39 hits in 209 career at-bats, a .187 average.