The Boston Red Sox came remarkably close to repeating their late-game heroics.
Just 48 hours after executing five separate comeback rallies to outlast the Chicago White Sox over 13 frames, Boston faced a four-run deficit against Oakland entering the final frame, putting their nine-game streak of victories in jeopardy.
Going up against Oakland’s closer Hogan Harris, Jahmai Jones lined a double with one out. Harris quickly recovered by fanning Ceddanne Rafaela, who swung at a high-and-tight fastball well off the plate. However, Caleb Durbin sustained the rally for Boston, turning on a hanging slider right down the heart of the plate to plate Jones with an RBI single.
Could history be repeating itself?
Willson Contreras kept the pressure on with another single as Harris once more served up a pitch over the heart of the plate. Seemingly overadjusting to avoid another hit, the Oakland reliever struggled with his control and missed the strike zone entirely, issuing a free pass to Andruw Monasterio.
With two down, the bases were packed. A simple single from newcomer Eli White would close the gap. A double or triple could pull them level. And a grand slam from White would keep Boston’s miraculous run alive.
Unfortunately, the Fenway magic ran out on Saturday evening. Harris threw another heater right through the center of the zone, and White launched it to deep center, momentarily igniting the home crowd. Ultimately, the drive died just short of the warning track, ending up in the glove of Henry Bolte for the game’s final out.
While Boston’s winning streak was halted at nine games, they remain the most dominant team in major league baseball, having triumphed in 27 of their previous 31 contests.
Oakland’s starting pitcher Gage Jump put on a masterclass, striking out 11 batters across six frames while yielding just a pair of runs on three hits. Both Bolte and Tyler Soderstrom launched homers against Boston reliever Raymond Burgos. Meanwhile, Red Sox starter Jake Bennett yielded four runs on five hits and three free passes over 5 1/3 innings, marking his fourth straight outing giving up at least three runs.
In an interesting twist, the Athletics are responsible for Boston’s only two defeats over their last 13 contests. Jump was also the winning pitcher in their July 28 meeting, throwing six shutout innings with seven punchouts, a game where Bennett also took the loss for the Red Sox.
Boston will look to start a new winning streak on Sunday, utilizing trade acquisition Erik Miller to open a bullpen game. The left-handed reliever joined the club from the San Francisco Giants on Monday in an unexpected swap that saw top shortstop prospect Marcelo Mayer head the other way.
