G144: Red Sox 11, Athletics 1

Athletics - 100 000 000 -  1  3  2
Red Sox   - 050 222 00x - 11 16  0

Mookie Betts became only the seventh player in Red Sox history to have a game with at least one triple, two home runs, and six runs batted in. (The last Boston player to do so was Adrian Beltre, in 2010.)

Betts's home runs were his 20th and 21st of the season. With his 24 stolen bases, he is the first player in Red Sox history to have 20 homers and 20 steals in two consecutive seasons. (He had 31 homers and 26 steals last year.) The only other Red Sox player to have two 20-20 seasons at any point in his career was Jackie Jensen (1954 and 1959).

The Red Sox erased Oakland's early lead by knocking out six hits in the second inning. Sam Travis singled to right and went to second on a fielding error. Xander Bogaerts singled to center (1-1). Rafael Devers singled to center. Christian Vazquez singled to right (2-1). Jackie Bradley popped to shortstop. Dustin Pedroia singled to right (3-1). Chris Young struck out looking. Betts tripled to right-center (5-1). Hanley Ramirez struck out swinging.

In the fourth, Pedroia singled and Betts homered to deep left, sending Sean Manaea (3.2-11-7-0-4, 84) to the showers. Vazquez and Bradley each hit run-scoring doubles in the fifth. And Betts went deep in the sixth, with Young aboard.

Eduardo Rodriguez (6-1-1-4-9, 109) had no trouble at all, outside of a one-out walk and Jed Lowrie's double* in the first inning. Rodriguez did not allow any other Oakland runners past first base. He struck out two batters in the second, fourth, and fifth innings.

*: NESN's Dave O'Brien said Lowrie's ball was hit to "dead away" center field. It's one of his quirks, which he seems to believe is endearing, but it's not. It just sounds like he doesn't know how to describe things that happen on a baseball field. Has anyone else heard him say a player is safe at second base with "a slide-in double"?
Also, re the AL record for consecutive wins, O'Brien said: "These A's won 20 in a row in 2002." ... No! None of the players on the 2017 A's were playing with Oakland in 2002. They wear the same clothes, but it is a completely different team.

Brandon Workman struck out the side in the seventh. Carson Smith loaded the bases on two walks and a single in the eighth, but Austin Maddox stranded the runners by striking out Jake Smolinski. Maddox allowed a leadoff hit in the ninth, but retired the next three hitters.

Betts, Pedroia, and Bogaerts each had three hits.

AL: Cleveland won their 20th straight game, tying the AL record, by beating the Tigers 2-0. Cleveland left the bases loaded in both the second and third innings, but it did not come back to bite them. ... The Rays hit two solo home runs off Sonny Gray and beat the Yankees 2-1, dropping New York 4 GB in the East.

Sean Manaea / Eduardo Rodriguez

Pedroia, 2B
Young, LF
Betts, RF
Ramirez, DH
Travis, 1B
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

It's a battle of left-handers as Oakland (63-80, last place in the AL West), visits Fenway Park for three games, including an afternoon match on Thursday.

Will Eduardo Nunez be back in the lineup after Monday's off-day? He missed Friday's game with back spasms and left Sunday's game with a right knee contusion. Since joining the Red Sox at the end of July, Nunez is hitting .319/.351/.534 (.885 OPS).

Last Night: The start of yesterday's Giants/Dodgers game was delayed by rain for 42 minutes. Then, after only one batter, there was another delay of nearly three hours (2:52). When San Francisco's Sam Dyson recorded the final out of the Giants' 8-6 win, it was 2:11 PST -- 5:11 AM in the East! The Dodgers have lost 11 games in a row, the team's longest losing streak since it moved from Brooklyn. (And yet LA still has the best record in MLB!)

Cleveland could tie the American League's record for most consecutive wins (20) with a victory over the Tigers tonight.

MFY Watch: While the Yankees are 3 GB in the East, they have a comfortable five-game lead in the wild card race. ... MFY/TBR (at Citi Field).