BOSTON (Interstat) — Connelly Early pitched seven shutout innings as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Atlanta Braves 8-0 on Wednesday at Fenway Park. Early (5-2) allowed four hits and struck out seven. Ryan Watson followed with two scoreless innings of relief, yielding one hit.

Boston broke the game open with six runs in the fourth inning. Marcelo Mayer reached on a fielding error, scoring Masataka Yoshida. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled in Mickey Gasper, then Ceddanne Rafaela’s single drove in two runs. Wilyer Abreu added a two-run single. The Red Sox added single runs in the seventh on Mayer’s RBI single and the eighth.

Jarren Duran went 4 for 5 with a home run and an RBI. Rafaela finished with three hits and two RBIs. Bryce Elder (4-3) took the loss for Atlanta, which managed five hits. The Braves dropped to 37-19; Boston improved to 23-31. Attendance was 34,093. Time of game was 2:28.