Boston offense finally wakes up, Sox take down A's

Mookie Betts broke a ninth-inning tie with a two-run double and Andrew Benintendi followed with an RBI triple Wednesday night, as the visiting Boston Red Sox finally got their high-powered offense rolling against the Oakland Athletics in a 6-3 win. The triumph followed consecutive shutout losses by the Red Sox in the four-game series that concludes Thursday afternoon.

After replay took away an apparent go-ahead run for the A's in the last of the eighth, the Red Sox seized control in the top of the ninth against Oakland's fifth pitcher, right-hander Fernando Rodney (0-1). Aided by a caught stealing on Eduardo Nunez, Rodney was one out away from a scoreless ninth before Blake Swihart and Jackie Bradley Jr. stroked consecutive singles.

After both advanced on a wild pitch, Betts put Boston in front 5-3 with a full-count double to left field. Benintendi then greeted Yusmeiro Petit with a first-pitch triple to right field, extending the lead to three runs.

Ryan Brasier hit Chad Pinder with a pitch to open the bottom of the ninth, but the Red Sox closer retired the next three batters in order to notch his first save of the season. Matt Barnes (1-0) got credit for the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings, including a scoreless eighth that featured a potential game-changing call reversal.

The A's appeared to have gone ahead 4-3 in the eighth, only to have replay reverse a safe call at first base, taking a run off the scoreboard. After review, Ramon Laureano was ruled out at first, the third out of the inning, after his grounder to Boston shortstop Brock Holt. Marcus Semien, who had singled, stolen second and taken third on a throwing error, raced home on the grounder, but to no avail.

Shut out for the first 22 innings of the series and trailing 3-0, the Red Sox rallied into a 3-3 tie on the strength of a solo home run by Swihart in the fifth inning and a two-run uprising in the sixth. Swihart's homer, off A's starter Marco Estrada, was his first of the season.

Estrada might have escaped the sixth inning unscathed if not for a throwing error by second baseman Jurickson Profar. Betts walked to open the inning. After Benintendi struck out, Rafael Devers hit a potential double play grounder to Profar, who threw wildly in his attempt to force Betts at second, putting two on with one out.

After Estrada walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases, reliever Ryan Buchter served up a first-pitch, two-run double to Mitch Moreland, tying the game. J.B. Wendelken came on to preserve the tie, getting a pair of grounders.

Laureano had a two-run homer, his second of the season, off Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi in the fourth inning to give Oakland its 3-0 lead. Nick Hundley's bases-loaded infield single in the second inning opened the game's scoring.

Neither starting pitcher got a decision. Eovaldi was pulled after five innings, charged with three runs. He gave up four hits and four walks, striking out three.

Only two of the three runs given up by Estrada were earned in his 5 1/3 innings. He limited the Red Sox to two hits, walked two and struck out three. Swihart had three hits for the Red Sox, who out-hit the A's 9-5.

--Field Level Media

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