Red Sox 5, A's 4

 

The Boston Red Sox let the A's jump out to a 3-0 lead after four innings in last night's game, but then tied it up in the fifth, only to allow the A's to move out to another lead in the sixth. Then Abreu and Contreras rolled up their sleeves and hit back-to-back homers to start the 8th, and the Red Sox leave Sacramento with a 3-1 series win.

During the game, Jarren Duran threw a much publicized temper tantrum in the dugout, but I'm not talking about that here but you can read all about it to your heart's content elsewhere. Knock yourself out.

Sonny Gray went seven full innings, striking out five while giving up all four of the A's runs on seven hits. 

After 108 games, the Red Sox are 57-51. After 108 games last year, they were 57-51, and in 2024, they were 57-51 after 108. In 2023, after 108 games, they were, you guessed it, 57-51. We just arrived there in very different ways each year.

New York lost their second straight to the White Sox last night, so now the third-place Red Sox are only 3½ behind them. The Yankees (61-48) are staying in Chicago for the weekend for four games against the Cubs (62-47), so more losses by the slumping Yankees can be expected. 

Unfortunately, the Sox move on to L.A. (69-40) to visit our old friend Mookie Betts and check in on Shohei Ohtani. Realistically, I'm not expecting much from Boston in this series, and if we win even a single game against the Dodgers, I'll be happy. On the other hand, this Red Sox team has played its best against top-level opponents - they swept both Tampa Bay and the Yankees recently. I'm not predicting another sweep here, but like I said, one out of three isn't inconceivable.

The first game will see Ranger Suarez (4-3, 3.02) making his second start since returning from the IL. Suarez is a career 3-2 against the Dodgers in five starts, with 30 strikeouts and only three runs. Last year, in the playoff division series, he got the Dodgers to strike out four times and gave up only one run in long relief (five innings) for the Phillies.

The Dodgeballs will start Edgardo Henriquez (4-1, 2.79). In three years in the majors, Henriquez has thrown all of one pitch to the Sox, a July 26, 2025 relief appearance where he got Romy Gonzalez to ground out in Fenway. So, other than that, he's pretty much an unknown commodity to the Red Sox.