Fitts worked into the sixth inning and his teammates provided ample support in a 9-3 victory before a crowd of 32,441 at Fenway Park.
The Sox have won four straight and six of their last seven. At 47-45, they are two games out in the American League wild-card race.
What has already been an eventful season feels like it’s just getting started.
“We’ve been having fun for a few days. We want to keep that rolling,” Fitts said.
It took 12 starts over two seasons for Fitts to get his first career victory despite a career ERA of 3.31.
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Whether it was a lack of run support, poor defense, or just bad luck, Fitts was 0-4 in his career — 0-3 this season.
“He’s been good for us. Very good,” manager Alex Cora said. “Gives us a chance to win almost every time.”
Run support was not an issue against the 21-70 Rockies.
The Sox had 14 hits, seven for extra bases. Roman Anthony was 3 for 5 with a two-run homer. Romy Gonzalez was 2 for 5 with a long home run and a triple.
Wilyer Abreu was 2 for 4 with an RBI double. Abraham Toro added a two-run double and Ceddanne Rafaela homered for the third consecutive game.
Jarren Duran, out of the lineup for only the third time this season, came off the bench and singled in a run. It was the first pinch-hit RBI of his career.
“We kept going and we didn’t stop,” Cora said.
That enabled the 25-year-old Fitts to leave the park with one of the lineup cards as a souvenir. He doesn’t have a man cave yet, but once he does that’s going on the wall.
“I’ve been waiting a while for it,” said Fitts, who allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits over 5 innings. He walked one and struck out six.
“It’s a long lifetime even to get to the big leagues. This is a big accomplishment for me. Hopefully it’s the first of many.”
Romy Gonzalez (left) greeted Roman Anthony at the plate after the rookie hit his second career home run, a two-run shot in the fifth inning.Charles Krupa/Associated Press
The Sox appeared to take a 1-0 lead against Rockies starter Austin Gomber in the first inning when leadoff hitter Nate Eaton drove a fastball off the top of the Green Monster that popped straight up and fell back on the field.
The ball struck the top rung of the superfluous ladder bolted to the wall, inches away from a home run but in this case a double. Eaton was then thrown out trying to steal third.
Fitts did well to hold the Rockies to one run in the second inning.
Thairo Estrada reached on a two-base throwing error by shortstop Trevor Story before Michael Toglia drew a walk. Ryan McMahon grounded out to the right side, advancing the runners. Brenton Doyle followed with an RBI single to center. Fitts was in trouble. But he struck out Yanquiel Fernández on three pitches, then retired Ryan Ritter on a first-pitch popup.
The Sox rewarded Fitts by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning.
Abreu doubled to left field with two outs to bring in a run. Toro followed with his two-run double to right.
The lead grew to 5-1 in the fifth inning.
Gonzalez belted a 375-foot triple off the wall in center field. Anthony got a high fastball and sent it 418 feet to center for his second home run.
Anthony had a .518 OPS in his first 15 games but is 17 of 44 (.386) with six extra-base hits and six RBIs in 10 since.
Fitts had retired 10 in a row before Mickey Moniak singled and went to third on a double by Estrada in the sixth inning. Facing reliever Chris Murphy, Toglia grounded to third base. Eaton fielded the ball but was unable to tag Estrada as he approached third base. Umpire Tom Hanahan initially ruled Estrada out of the base line but that was changed after the umpires huddled. Moniak scored on the play, and McMahon’s RBI single then made it 5-3.
That was as close as the Rockies would get.
The Sox have scored 76 runs and hit .334 over their last nine games, piling up 55 extra-base hits.
Peter Abraham can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @PeteAbe.