Oakland Athletics at Boston Red Sox
· Major League Baseball3 - 4
Red Sox rally and extend winning streak to five games with 4-3 victory over A's
“I know a lot of people still have question marks,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Yoshida helped Boston win its fifth straight game heading into the All-Star break, beating the Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Sunday. “I'm glad we took a chance.”
The Red Sox had success signing Japanese players before, with Daisuke Matsuzaka helping the team win the 2007 World Series and Koji Uehara closing out the championship in 2013. Still, when they made Yoshida the centerpiece of the latest offseason by giving him a five-year, $90 million deal, the word around baseball was that they bid against themselves.
But Yoshida has been Boston’s most reliable hitter, batting .316 with 10 homers and 44 RBI heading into the break. On Sunday, he singled and scored the tying run with good baserunning, then gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead when he bounced one off the top of the Green Monster.
“The best thing is we won the game, and then being excited together,” he said through a translator. “So that was really happy.”
The Red Sox have won eight of their last nine games since falling a season-high 15 games back in the AL East. They remain in last place in the division, but head into the break just two games out of the wild-card race.
“I’m glad that we ended up the first part of the season this way. We’re playing some good baseball,” Cora said. “It’s a good feeling, but we’ve got work to do. We’re still last in the American League East.”
J.P. Sears took a no-hitter into the fifth for Oakland despite allowing an unearned run in the first thanks to one of three A's errors. Boston trailed 3-1 in the middle of the sixth before Adam Duvall hit a solo homer to lead off the bottom half, then Yoshida singled, stole second, took third on a bad throw from catcher Manny Piña and scored on Christian Arroyo’s double to tie it.
Yoshida's homer gave Boston its only lead.
“To end the first half with a win, it’s huge. Especially the way we’ve been playing,” Duvall said. “I think we’re getting some momentum right now, and it’s good to take that into the break.”
Brent Rooker had three hits for Oakland, including a 443-foot home run high off of the Green Monster light stanchion.
Chris Martin (3-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the Red Sox, and Kenley Jansen — the lone Boston All-Star — pitched the ninth for his 19th save.
Ken Waldichuk (2-6) gave up Yoshida's homer.
HARD LUCK
Sears, who picked up his only victory of the season on June 11, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and had a chance to snap a three-game losing streak when he was spotted to a 3-1 lead.
Sears did allow an unearned run to score in the first when leadoff hitter Rob Refsnyder walked, moved to second on a wild pitch, took third on a fielding error and scored on a shallow sacrifice fly to right.
In all, Sears gave up one unearned run on one hit, three walks, two hit batters and a wild pitch. He struck out four in five innings.
UP NEXT
Athletics: Host Minnesota to start a three-game series after the All-Star break.
Red Sox: Return from the break with three at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.
How can I watch Oakland Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox?
- TV Channel: Athletics at Red Sox 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Matchup Prediction
Scoring Summary
9th Inning | J. Diaz flied out to right. | |
9th Inning | Bleday struck out swinging. | |
9th Inning | Allen caught stealing second, catcher to shortstop. | |
9th Inning | Allen ran for Rooker | |
9th Inning | Rooker walked. | |
9th Inning | Jansen relieved Martin |
Statistics
OAK | BOS | |
---|---|---|
1 | Games Played | 1 |
1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
1 | Hit By Pitch | 2 |
15 | Ground Balls | 7 |
9 | Strikeouts | 6 |
2 | Runs Batted In | 4 |
0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
11 | Hits | 7 |
2 | Stolen Bases | 1 |
5 | Walks | 4 |
0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
3 | Runs | 4 |
0 | Ground Into Double Play | 1 |
0 | Sacrifice Flies | 1 |
36 | At Bats | 29 |
1 | Home Runs | 2 |
0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
27 | Runners Left On Base | 17 |
0 | Triples | 0 |
0 | Game Winning RBIs | 1 |
0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
1 | Doubles | 2 |
12 | Fly Balls | 17 |
1 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
161 | Pitches | 154 |
0 | Games Started | 0 |
1 | Pinch At Bats | 1 |
0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
1 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
15 | Total Bases | 15 |
42 | Plate Appearances | 36 |
162.0 | Projected Home Runs | 324.0 |
2 | Extra Base Hits | 4 |
6.6 | Runs Created | 5.7 |
.306 | Batting Average | .241 |
.000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
.417 | Slugging Percentage | .517 |
.278 | Secondary Average | .448 |
.405 | On Base Percentage | .361 |
.821 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .878 |
1.3 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.4 |
6.8 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 6.4 |
28.0 | Batter Rating | 34.0 |
36.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 14.5 |
0.67 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
3.83 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 4.28 |
.111 | Isolated Power | .276 |
0.56 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.67 |
.119 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .111 |
-.028 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .207 |
5.0 | Runs Produced | 8.0 |
0.7 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
0.5 | Patience Ratio | 0.6 |
0.4 | Balls In Play Average | 0.2 |
83.3 | MLB Rating | 84.0 |
0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 35,460 | Capacity:
2024 American League West Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Houston | 88 | 73 | .547 | - | W2 |
Seattle | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3.5 | W4 |
Texas | 78 | 84 | .481 | 10.5 | W3 |
Oakland | 69 | 93 | .426 | 19.5 | L3 |
Los Angeles | 63 | 99 | .389 | 25.5 | L6 |
2024 American League East Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York | 94 | 68 | .580 | - | W1 |
Baltimore | 91 | 71 | .562 | 3 | W3 |
Boston | 81 | 81 | .500 | 13 | W1 |
Tampa Bay | 80 | 82 | .494 | 14 | L1 |
Toronto | 74 | 88 | .457 | 20 | L3 |