Hanley notches HR hat trick at Fenway

On an evening dedicated to celebrating the Dominican Republic's indelible influence on Major League Baseball, one of the island's most accomplished native sons - Hanley Ramirez - shined brightest in the Global Game at Fenway Park.

Ramirez, the mercurial Red Sox first baseman out of Samana, recorded the first three-homer game of his career Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants, becoming the second Boston player in the last seven weeks to go deep thrice in a game (Mookie Betts accomplished the feat back on May 31).

In the bottom of the second, Ramirez opened the scoring with an opposite-field shot off veteran right-hander Matt Cain, with right fielder Mac Williamson tumbling into the Red Sox bullpen in a futile attempt to corral his blast (evoking David Ortiz's unforgettable grand slam in Game 2 of the 2013 American League Championship Series).

An inning later, Ramirez torched Cain again, crushing a two-run shot to center that extended Boston's lead to 5-0.

Then, with his club's lead down to one run, Ramirez gave the Red Sox some much needed breathing room in the sixth by stroking a line-drive shot off reliever Albert Suarez that just barely snuck over the home-run demarcation line high up on the Green Monster.

Ramirez, who hadn't gone deep since June 25 prior to Wednesday's series finale against San Francisco, is the first Dominican-born player to notch a three-homer game since Toronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion smacked three round-trippers in a 15-1 shellacking of the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 29, 2015.