Nothing separated these teams for five innings. Then one swing changed everything. Ceddanne Rafaela's grand slam in the sixth turned a quiet afternoon into a 4-2 Boston win over Oakland at Sutter Health Park.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| OAK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
Rafaela finished 1-for-4 with four RBIs, all coming on the one swing that decided the game. It was his only hit of the day, but it was enough. Jonah Heim answered with a solo homer later in the inning, and Wilyer Abreu came around to score as part of the same rally, but Boston's cushion held from there.
Oakland struck first when Tyler Soderstrom homered to left center in the first inning, putting the Athletics up 1-0. That lead stood until the sixth, when Rafaela turned on a pitch and drove it out to left center for a grand slam, scoring Connor Wong, Willson Contreras and Abreu ahead of him and vaulting Boston to a 4-1 lead. Heim's solo shot for Oakland in the bottom half cut the margin to 4-2, but the Athletics could not add more.
Jack Perkins started for Oakland and allowed 2 runs on 1 hit over 5.2 innings, striking out 4 with 3 walks, before the bullpen took over and gave up 2 more runs across 3.1 innings. Payton Tolle worked 5.1 innings for Boston, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits with 7 strikeouts, and the Red Sox bullpen closed it out by combining for 3.2 scoreless innings. Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for the save, striking out 3 in a perfect inning, his 25th save of the season with a 1.82 ERA.
The win moved Boston to 55-50, extending its winning streak to two games. Oakland fell to 44-62, its third straight loss.