SACRAMENTO – Wire Service Preview) – Major League Baseball veteran Rob Refsnyder is the new owner of the longest homer hit by a Boston Red Sox player this season.
Refsnyder belted a 463-foot homer to fuel Boston’s second straight win in a three-game series against the Athletics, and he will aim to help the Red Sox complete the sweep Wednesday afternoon in the temporary Northern California home of the soon-to-be Las Vegas A’s.
Boston (81-65) is in a virtual tie for second place with the New York Yankees (80-64) in the American League East, three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays (83-61). The Red Sox and Yankees also share the top two AL wild-card positions.
Refsnyder’s career-long homer was a three-run blast that capped a four-run first inning on Tuesday. It was just the 32th homer the journeyman has hit in 10 major league seasons.
“That’s the furthest ball I’ve ever hit, and it will probably be the furthest I’ll ever hit,” Refsnyder said after Boston’s 6-0 win. “It’s special to be able to do something like that. There’s a really bunch of bad years and stretches where I really couldn’t even hit the ball forward.”
When the subject turned to bragging rights, the reality that his homer was the team’s longest sunk in.
“They all count the same, but it’s bad when a 34-year-old is No. 1, so I will give some crap to some guys,” Refsnyder said.
Boston has had many heroes while outscoring the Athletics 13-0 over the first two games.
Trevor Story and Carlos Narvaez homered in the Red Sox’s 7-0 victory on Monday, and Romy Gonzalez led off Tuesday game with a homer shortly before Refsnyder’s blast.
Gonzalez also hit an RBI double in the second inning but exited with left knee soreness after 1 1/2 frames.
“Left knee kind of locked up on me, nothing too serious,” Gonzalez said. “Hoping I will be ready to go by Friday.”
Gonzalez is batting .455 (20-for-44) during a 12-game hitting streak. Prior to the homer and double on Tuesday, all 18 of the hits were singles.
The Athletics had 10 hits on Tuesday but also struck out 11 times in five innings against Boston left-hander Connelly Early, who was making his big-league debut. On Monday, Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet pitched the first seven innings of a shutout victory.
It marked the first time the A’s have been blanked in consecutive games since facing the Detroit Tigers on June 26 and the New York Yankees one day later.
“To get shut out back-to-back nights is tough,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “Our offense has been great all year.
“We’ve faced tough pitching. We had a lot of chances and we didn’t capitalize. When you have 10 hits and you don’t score any runs, it says a lot about your opportunities with runners in scoring position.”
A’s All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson had three hits to raise his batting average to .319, second best in the majors behind the .321 mark of the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.
“It’s impressive — his ability to use the whole field the way that he does,” Kotsay said. “It doesn’t seem like he’s slowing down right now.”
Left-hander Payton Tolle (0-1, 7.56 ERA) will make his third start for Boston on Wednesday. His first went well, his second did not.
The 22-year-old struck out eight in 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 29 in his big-league debut. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks.
However, Tolle lasted just three innings and gave up five runs and five hits while losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. He fanned two and walked four.
Right-hander Mason Barnett (1-1, 9.00) will make his third career start for the A’s.
Barnett, 24, struggled in his debut vs. the Texas Rangers on Aug. 30, permitting five runs on eight hits in four-plus innings. He came back to beat the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, when he allowed four runs and three hits over five innings. In the latter contest, he struck out eight and walked five.
–Field Level Media