Finally! 4 home runs help Dempster get 1st win.

David Ross slammed a pair of home runs - half of his career-high 4-hit night - and Ryan Dempster struck out 10 as the Red Sox beat the Astros 7-3 at Fenway Park.

Ross (pictured left) was 4-for-4 for the 1st time in his career; both home runs each cleared the Monster. Ross's offensive output was part of a 17-hit Red Sox attack that included home runs by Will Middlebrooks and David Ortiz, doubles by Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli, and a 3-bagger by Pedro Ciriaco.

Dempster (pictured right) went 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks to pick up his 1st win of the season. The 6 runs put up in the 1st 5 innings by the Red Sox offense was more than double the average run support he'd received in his 4 previous starts.

Dempster's strikeout totals are worth noting. His 10 K's against the Astros gave him 43 in 30 innings of work so far. When asked after the game what he attributed that to he said, "I think maybe fastball command. When you can put your fastball where you want, you end up getting ahead in the count and expand off that. Strikeouts are overrated. I’m just trying to get outs.”

Follow Jim Monaghan on twitter - @Monaghan21