Red Sox Notes: Boston’s ‘Team Effort’ Rewarded Vs. Athletics
'It was fun'
The Boston Red Sox were put to the extra-innings challenge again Tuesday, this time tasked with outlasting the scrappy Oakland Athletics on the road.
Boston didn’t get the best from right-hander starter Brayan Bello, who surrendered four runs through five innings. However, the Red Sox bullpen picked up the slack. Boston’s relievers maintained a one-run deficit through its three-inning scoreless stretch heading into the seventh inning. The window was open for a late-game rally, which came at just the right time.
Taking notice of the resilience of Boston’s relief arms, manager Alex Cora used the entire Red Sox dugout — all 13 positional players — to get the job done. It kept Cora and the coaching staff on their toes, but they were rewarded when Boston outfielder Tyler O’Neill plated the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning to help give the Red Sox a 5-4 victory — the team’s third consecutive and first in extra innings this season.
“Total team effort,” Cora told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “From the beginning, we had to grind. Two pitches in the zone, they hit it out of the ballpark. We grinded the at-bats. The whole coaching staff was part of it because we haven’t done this in a while, the double switch and all that stuff. It was fun.”
O’Neill gave the Red Sox the lead with a run-scoring groundout, however, that still left three critical outs to be recorded in the bottom half of the frame.
That’s where right-handed reliever Josh Winckowski and outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela came through as Oakland looked to drive in its ghost runner to at least send the contest to a 12th inning.
Winckowski pitched the final two innings, holding the Athletics scoreless while Rafaela made a tremendous lead-saving catch in centerfield, tracking a deep flyout off the bat of Oakland’s Shea Langeliers to record the second out.
“Off the bat, I was going for it 100%,” Rafaela said postgame, per NESN. “It felt pretty good to help my teammates, help the team.”
Here are more notes from Tuesday night’s Red Sox-Athletics game:
— Red Sox reliever Chris Martin pitched a scoreless eighth inning, notching his 23rd consecutive scoreless appearance which ties ex-Boston right-hander Joe Kelly (2017) for the most in franchise history. Martin trails leader Koji Uehara (2013) by four outings for the all-time lead.
— Boston improved to 1-1 in extra-inning games in 2024.
— Jarren Duran stole his team-leading sixth base of the season, giving the 27-year-old six in Boston’s first six games played.
— Boston relief pitchers Greg Weissert, Isaiah Campbell, Martin, Kenley Jansen and Winckowski combined to pitch six scoreless innings to slam the door on Oakland.
“We’re pitching for each other to pick each other up,” Winckowski explained, per NESN. “Our leaders Marty and Kenley doing their things as always, and we’re just trying to follow their footsteps. The guys are rolling good.”
— The Red Sox will hunt a series sweep in Wednesday afternoon’s finale with the Athletics. First pitch from the Oakland Coliseum is set for 3:30 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
