Bregman has 6 RBIs, Devers adds 4 hits as Red Sox rout Cardinals 18-7 to sweep doubleheader

BOSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit a three-run homer and tied a career high with six RBIs, Rafael Devers went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs, and the Boston Red Sox rolled to an 18-7 win and a doubleheader sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.

Wilyer Abreu added three RBIs for Boston, which finished with a season-best 22 hits and won its fifth straight. It was the 14th career four-hit game for Devers, who also scored four runs. Bregman had four hits for the 10th time, and Jarren Duran had three hits and scored three runs.

All that offense made for an easy night for Hunter Dobbins (1-0), who scattered five hits and gave up two runs over five innings to win his major league debut. Cooper Criswell allowed four runs in the ninth, but went three innings for his first save.

St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (0-1) permitted nine runs — eight earned — and 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings. Thomas Saggaese hit a three-run homer in the ninth and Brendan Donovan had three hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals. St. Louis extended a team record with its ninth straight game getting at least 10 hits.

In the makeup of Saturday's rainout, Abreu singled off the Green Monster to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Red Sox rallied for a 5-4 victory in the opener. Devers, who began the season 0 for 21 with 15 strikeouts, hit his first homer of the year.

Pedro Pagés replaced St. Louis catcher Iván Herrera in the first game after he exited with left knee inflammation. In an interview on the ESPN broadcast, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said initial testing came back clean and Herrera’s knee was structurally sound. But he added the inflammation will require a stint on the injured list.

Boston took control in the second, scoring five runs on an RBI single by Ceddanne Rafaela and two-run doubles by Bregman and Abreu. Mikolas threw 41 of his 81 pitches during the inning. The Red Sox had another five-run inning in the sixth.

The Red Sox scored five runs in the second and four in the third. It marked the first time they scored four or more runs in back-to-back innings since Aug. 24, 2023, at Houston, and the first time at Fenway Park since Sept. 27, 2022, against Baltimore.

LHP Matthew Liberatore (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will start as the Cardinals open a three-game series Monday in Pittsburgh. The Red Sox had not announced a starting pitcher for the opener of their four-game series against Toronto.

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St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Michael Siani chases the ball after Boston Red Sox's Carlos Narváez hit for a double in the seventh inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pagés, left, meets with pitcher Gordon Graceffo (44) on the mound in the seventh inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Alex Bregman hits a three-run home run in the third inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas throws in the first inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Alex Bregman gestures as he rounds the base after hitting a three-run homer in the third inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Hunter Dobbins throws in the first inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cadinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story, left, and Alex Bregman, right, celebrate Bregman's three-run homer in the third inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Thomas Saggese, left, tags out Boston Red Sox's Romy Gonzalez (23) in the seventh inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers, right, high fives teammate Alex Bregman, left, after Devers hit a home run in the fifth inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers dons a mascot head in the dugout after hitting a home run in the fifth inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers (11) gestures as he runs the bases after hitting a home run in the fifth inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Romy Gonzalez, right, reacts after getting tagged out by St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Thomas Saggese, left, in the seventh inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

St. Louis Cardinals' Pedro Pagés hits for a double in the sixth inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

HONG KONG (AP) — Fireworks are typically a celebratory centerpiece of Hong Kong's New Year celebrations. Not this year.

The territory will ring in 2026 without spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor after a massive fire in November that killed at least 161 people.

The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.

Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the New Year, Lunar New Year and National Day. The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.

Rosanna Law, the territory's secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.

The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.

Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The casualties pained many residents across the city.

Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancellations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on Oct. 1, 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.

The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century B.C., when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers,” according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a U.S. trade group.

The Guinness World Records organization says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E. Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.

People gather at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People attend the New Year countdown event to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People take selfies at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

People pose for photographs at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

FILE - Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the start of 2025 at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)