(Photo credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images)

The Boston Red Sox will attempt to earn their first back-to-back home victories since early April when they wrap up a three-game series against the visiting Atlanta Braves on Thursday.

After Atlanta won the series opener 7-6 Tuesday, Boston ended a five-game home losing streak with an 8-0 victory on Wednesday. The Red Sox took control with a six-run fourth inning.

The last time Boston posted consecutive victories at Fenway Park was April 7-8 against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Red Sox also won their next home game, on April 17 vs. the Detroit Tigers, but they are 5-15 at home ever since.

The 15 hits Boston collected on Wednesday was the team's highest total at Fenway Park this season.

'It was really good -- and needed,' Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. 'I actually thought we took some good at-bats in the first three innings, but to capitalize in the fourth over and over again and just keep building was really good.

'Singles work when you stack them. That has been, at times, the problem. We can look up and get eight or nine hits, but we don't stack them. We stacked them (Wednesday), and that's usually what equals big crooked-number innings.'

Jarren Duran has hit a solo home run in each of the first two games in the series, and he had four hits on Wednesday. The Boston leadoff man has homered in back-to-back games three times this season, all in May.

Ceddanne Rafaela, who socked a solo shot on Tuesday, went 3-for-5 with two RBIs in the Wednesday win.

'Overall, (Rafaela's) swing decisions at the plate, for the most part, are as good as I've seen,' Tracy said. 'He's just being more particular about what he's swinging at. When he gets a good pitch to hit, he's hitting it hard, so he's swinging the bat very well.'

Atlanta was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base Wednesday. It was the fifth time the Braves were shut out this season. Atlanta committed three errors in the defeat, two in Boston's six-run fourth.

'Turn the page on this one,' Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. 'Game got away from us in the fourth inning there. We didn't really take care of the ball.

'Hard to tell location from the dugout, but probably a lot of the pitches (from starter Bryce Elder) were on the plate. It was a lot of singles for a while, but they put 'em together and then we didn't take care of the ball and the fourth got away from us.'

The Red Sox will send left-hander Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.49 ERA) to the mound Thursday afternoon with the hope of winning the decisive game in the series. Tolle won his lone career appearance against the Braves on May 16. He pitched a career-high eight innings and yielded four hits and two runs as Boston prevailed 3-2 at Atlanta.

Tolle is coming off a no-decision against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, when he tossed six innings of three-run ball.

Atlanta left-hander Chris Sale (7-3, 1.89) is scheduled to start against his former team. He played for the Red Sox from 2017-23, helping the club win the 2018 World Series. Sale is 4-1 with a 1.89 ERA in 12 career appearances (seven starts) against Boston.

The 2024 National League Cy Young Award winner is in fine form again this year. He has allowed one run or fewer in eight of his 10 starts. Most recently, he fired seven innings of one-run ball to beat the Miami Marlins on May 20.

--Field Level Media