Even when they are down, the Boston Red Sox are one confident bunch.

 

Jackie Bradley Jr. and company always think they have plenty of time.

 

Bradley hit a sacrifice fly in Boston's four-run seventh inning and a tiebreaking single in the ninth, helping the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Thursday night.

 

Boston (93-42) earned its third straight win and increased its AL East advantage to 8 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who blew a late lead in an 8-7 loss to Detroit. The Red Sox trailed late in the game each of the last three days - and won each time.

 

Ian Kinsler sparked the winning rally against Chicago with a one-out single off Thyago Vieira (1-1) for the last of his three hits. Blake Swihart then walked before Bradley drove in Kinsler with a liner into right field.

 

The big league-best Red Sox poured it on from there. Andrew Benintendi added another RBI single and J.D. Martinez hit a three-run drive for his 39th homer, making it 9-4 and sending much of the crowd of 18,015 to the exits.

 

Mookie Betts also homered for Boston, and Ryan Brasier (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth for his first win in his 28th major league appearance.

 

Chicago (53-81) wasted a terrific start by Lucas Giolito, who struck out eight while pitching 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Avisail Garcia homered and drove in three runs, and Yolmer Sanchez collected three hits in the opener of a 10-game homestand.

 

The White Sox had won five of six, including two of three in their previous series against the Yankees. But they were unable to put away the powerful Red Sox, who scored 11 times in the seventh inning of a 14-6 victory against Miami on Wednesday night.

 

Chicago got off to a fast start behind Garcia, who is batting just .159 (17 for 107) with 37 strikeouts in 28 games in August. Garcia hit a two-run drive to center in the first and a sacrifice fly in the second, helping the White Sox build a 4-0 lead against Rick Porcello.

 

Giolito threw a career-high 113 pitches before he was pulled after Brock Holt walked in the seventh. The 6-foot-6 right-hander got a big ovation as he made his way to the dugout, but the cheers quickly faded as the Red Sox pounced on Jeanmar Gomez.

 

Kinsler and Swihart greeted Gomez with consecutive singles, driving in Holt for Boston's first run. Bradley then hit a sacrifice fly before Betts connected for his 29th homer, tying it at 4 with a towering drive just over the wall in left.