LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela hit two home runs, Andruw Monasterio doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the visiting Red Sox slipped past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2, on Saturday.
Left-hander Payton Tolle gave up two runs on nine hits over six innings with seven strikeouts as the Red Sox opened August with a victory after they went 21-4 in July to set a franchise record for a full month with a .840 winning percentage.
Right-hander Justin Slaten (2-4) replaced Tolle and pitched the seventh inning before left-hander Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth inning for his 27th save as Boston played without first baseman Willson Contreras as a precaution after he was hit in the helmet by a pitch on Friday.
After winning the first two games in the series, the Red Sox are 5-1 on a seven-game California road trip that included a stop to face the Athletics.
Teoscar Hernandez hit a home run among his three hits for the Dodgers, who lost for the fourth time in their past six games. Freddie Freeman also had three hits and has seven multi-hit games over his last nine contests.
Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-7) continued a run of solid pitching since the All-Star break by allowing three runs on four hits over eight innings but still took the loss. The Dodgers had 10 hits to four for the Red Sox but were hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position and stranded seven.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Rafaela hit his first home run of the game on a drive to left-center field against Yamamoto.
The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the second inning on Hernandez’s two-run home run to right field. It was his 10th of the season and second in three games.
Boston tied the score 2-2 in the third on another home run from Rafaela. It was his 14th of the season and his third in a span of four at-bats going back to the series opener on Friday.
Monasterio doubled to lead off the eighth, went to third on a Jarren Duran bunt single and scored on a double-play grounder by Connor Wong.
–Field Level Media