Behind the pitching of Rich Hill and the sixth-inning blast of Franchy Cordero, the Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday with a 5-1 victory.
The Red Sox, who now have won four straight contests, improved to 27-27 on the season while the Athletics fell to 20-36.
Check out the box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Red Sox manager Alex Cora has stressed the importance of getting back to .500, which ultimately would allow the group to reset the rollercoaster campaign. Well, Boston, one of the hottest clubs in the league over the past month, now have done just that. The Red Sox are .500 for the first time since April 22 and it comes as Boston has won 17 of its last 25 games dating back to May 10.
Boston put together a complete effort Sunday, and it depicted much of their series in Oakland. The start from Hill — after Nick Pivetta in Saturday’s 8-0 victory and Nathan Eovaldi in Friday’s 7-2 verdict — was tremendous.
And while it wasn’t the same output from the offense, Boston nevertheless received enough from its bats. The Red Sox scored five runs on seven hits in Sunday’s win after recording seven runs on 10 hits Friday and eight runs on 14 hits Saturday.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Cordero came up with Boston’s biggest hit of the contest, a three-run home run to give the visitors a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning. Cordero showed his opposite-field power with a 406-foot shot to left field, scoring both Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts.
— Hill earned the second win of his campaign Sunday, the first since May 14. Hill allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts, throwing 56 of his 78 pitches for strikes, in six innings. He retired 14 batters in a row stretching from the second to the sixth innings. It marked the second six-inning game of his season.
— Devers was the lone Red Sox batter to muster two hits in the contest, including a solo home run in the eighth inning to extend Boston’s lead to 5-1. Devers, who reached base three times (2-for-3, walk) also recorded an RBI single to score Jarren Duran for the game’s first run.
WAGER WATCH
Some sly bettors may opt to stay away betting baseball’s moneyline or spread and instead decide go with the starting pitcher to claim a victory. Simply, it offers more value. Well, any bettor who did so Sunday on DraftKings Sportsbook, would have benefitted from getting Hill (+290) to record a win rather than Boston’s moneyline (-105) or the 1.5-run spread (+165).
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox will continue their West Coast road trip against the struggling Los Angeles Angels with the four-game series starting Monday. First pitch from Angel Stadium of Anaheim is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. ET, and you can watch it live on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.
