Red Sox 8, Astros 4: David Ortiz had two hits and drove in three runs as host Boston won its fourth straight game.

Red Sox starter Felix Doubront (3-0) overcame early control issues before completing 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and four hits while striking out eight and walking four. Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia each contributed two hits and an RBI and Will Middlebrooks had two hits and scored two runs for Boston.

Houston starter Brad Peacock (1-3) couldn’t take advantage of early run support and was lifted after allowing five runs, six hits and five walks in 3 1/3 innings. Marwin Gonzalez had two of the five hits for the Astros.

Doubront gave up a leadoff single in the first to Jose Altuve, followed by three walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch in a 31-pitch inning, which ended with the Astros leading 2-0. Doubront settled down from there, retiring 17 of the next 19 batters before needing help from Junichi Tazawa in the seventh.

Jacoby Ellsbury had a two-run single and Ortiz had a two-out two-run double in the second inning to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. Ortiz, who made his season debut last weekend due to an Achilles' tendon injury, added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to push the lead to 5-2 before the Red Sox blew the game open with three runs in the seventh.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Red Sox need to win their last two games this month to post their best April won-loss record in franchise history. … The Astros struck out 12 times, raising their major league-leading total to 244. … The last three hitters for the Red Sox have combined to go 12-for-21 in the last two games.