Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida came through
The Boston Red Sox bounced back from their loss to the Oakland Athletics in a big way with a 7-0 win on Thursday night for a series win at Fenway Park.
With a victory to close out the series, Boston improves to 51-41 while Oakland falls to 35-60.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Left-handed hitters Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida are heating up for the Red Sox, putting on stellar performances to finish off a three-game series with the Athletics.
Abreu set the tone for the game, launching a double in the first and then his eighth home run of the season in the fourth inning. The first inning was a struggle for Oakland starting pitcher Luis Medina, throwing 34 pitches to start. Boston capitalized with a series of hits, and Abreu was the one to extend the lead to 3-0 early.
The right fielder went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs. Abreu was hitless through four games before the Oakland series. He broke the streak in the first game against the A’s on Tuesday but did not record a hit on Wednesday.
Abreu was a triple short of the cycle, recording a single, double and homer.
Abreu is not the only one to heat up with Yoshida going 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Yoshida has started to shine since coming back from his thumb injury. He notched his fourth home run of the season in the sixth inning.
After scoring just two runs the game before, the Red Sox had a well-needed game on Thursday.
STARS OF THE GAME
—Tanner Houck was shut down on the mound for the Red Sox, striking out six on 103 pitches, and allowing just two hits and three walks through six innings of work. With the win, Houck secured his eighth before the All-Star Game.
—Abreu hit his eighth home run of the year in the fifth inning to center field. The right fielder reached base safely in all three of his at-bats.
—Connor Wong launched his eighth home run of the season 420 feet in the third inning. Wong also had a solid performance at the plate, having a 2-for-3 night with a walk.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will continue at Fenway Park against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.