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Red Sox Facing Adversity (Again)

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TORONTO – (Wire Service Report) – The Toronto Blue Jays could be catching the visiting Boston Red Sox at the right time tonight in the opener of a four-game series. The Red Sox, who have been the hottest team in the majors for more than a month, are coming off two consecutive home losses to the lowly Athletics over the weekend. The 7-3 loss on Saturday snapped Boston’s nine-game winning streak, which came not long after a 15-game win streak from July 3-22.

It is the first time since June 30-July 1 that the Red Sox have lost two in a row.

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They still have won 27 of their past 32 games as they embark on a seven-game road trip following a 4-2 homestand.

“It’s been a minute,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said after a 4-3 loss on Sunday. “When the (15-game) winning streak ended, I was like, ‘We knew that was going to happen eventually,’ and I think in this case you probably knew this was going to happen eventually.

“You’re not going to win every single series the rest of the year. … You move on, tip your cap and move on to Toronto.”

The Red Sox are scheduled to start Sonny Gray (14-2, 2.78 ERA) in the series opener. The right-hander is 4-5 with a 3.31 ERA in 17 career games (16 starts) against the Blue Jays. In two starts against them this season, he is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA.

Fellow righty Jameson Taillon (2-6, 5.96) is expected to make his second start with the Blue Jays on Monday after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs. In his Toronto debut on Wednesday, he allowed three runs on six hits in four innings against the Houston Astros, striking out four and walking two.

The right-hander is 3-1 with a 2.59 ERA in eight career starts against the Red Sox.

Boston will be facing a Toronto team which has little time to recover from a three-city, seven-game road trip which concluded over the weekend in Philadelphia.

While the Blue Jays finished the trip with a 4-3 record, they were forced to put a lot of tread on their tires with four of the games going to extra innings — including Sunday’s 7-6, 12-inning loss to the Phillies which prevented a Toronto sweep.

The Blue Jays are still holding out hope of making a serious run for the third American League wild-card spot, which is currently occupied by the Texas Rangers. The Blue Jays are 3 1/2 games behind Texas but also have four teams between them and the Rangers (plus the Seattle Mariners, who are currently tied with Toronto).

“Everybody still believes, from our front office all the way to our locker room,” Toronto designated hitter George Springer said. “We’re one good stretch away from being right where we want to be.”

“This could be our season,” added Ernie Clement, who had an RBI double on Sunday. “If we play really, really well, it’s going to put us in a great position. We’re just going to show up every day and try to take care of business.”

The series in Toronto is likely to see the Red Sox debut of catcher Adley Rutschman, who was obtained in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 3. Rutschman won’t play on Monday — instead having a workout day — but is expected to debut over the four-game set.

“Make sure he comes out of (the workout) OK and we’ll assess him after that,” Tracy said.

Rutschman has been on the injured list since July 19 with inflammation in his left wrist.

–Field Level Media

 

A’s Snap L Streak, End Sox Win Streak

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FENWAY – (Wire Service Report) – Gage Jump allowed two runs and struck out 11 over six innings, while Tyler Soderstrom and Henry Bolte homered as the Athletics 7-3 defeated the host Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

Jump (5-7) gave up six hits and walked two for the Athletics, who snapped a nine-game losing streak and won for only the second time in 14 games. Jonah Heim and Donovan Walton had two RBIs each, while Jacob Wilson went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

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Andruw Monasterio drove in two runs for the Red Sox, who had their nine-game winning streak halted. It was just their fourth loss in 31 games.

Red Sox starter Jake Bennett (7-5) gave up four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings with three walks and five strikeouts.

Caleb Durbin singled in a run in the ninth for the Red Sox, who loaded the bases with two out against Hogan Harris. But Harris induced Eli White to line out to center and picked up his 10th save.

The Athletics took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Heim’s two-run single off the green monster in left field.

Walton’s pinch-hit two-run ground-rule double in the sixth extended the lead to 5-2.

The Red Sox had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the sixth but Jump fanned Jarren Duran and Connor Wong.

Soderstrom’s solo homer in the seventh made it 6-2. His 19th home run of the season came on a drive into the right-field stands, estimated at 413 feet, off of reliever Raymond Burgos.

Bolte hit his fifth home run to center in the ninth, also off of Burgos.

Boston took a 2-0 lead in the first on Monasterio’s two-out, two-run single. It stretched his hitting streak to 10 games and on-base stretch to 20 games. The Red Sox stole three bases in the inning, two by Jahmai Jones and one by Durbin.

The Athletics got on the board to make it 2-1 in the fourth on Brian Serven’s soft infield RBI single in front of the plate with two out. The tapper scored Wilson — who led off the inning with a double — from third base.

The Red Sox outhit the Athletics, 10-8. Jones went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Nick Sogard went 3-for-4.

Boston left a dozen men on base and went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

–Field Level Media

It’s On to The Athletics

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SACRAMENTO – (Wire Service Report) – The Athletics’ season has been in a free fall in recent weeks and there is likely no recovering from the latest blow.

The Athletics could learn Monday that All-Star catcher Shea Langeliers requires season-ending knee surgery before they later take the field against the Boston Red Sox at the A’s temporary home in West Sacramento, California. Langeliers reportedly sustained a torn meniscus in his right knee during Friday’s game against the Minnesota Twins and was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday.

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“We’re looking at the situation and making sure that he gets the best advice, the best care and, hopefully, the quickest recovery,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said after Sunday’s 11-8 road loss to the Twins.

Langeliers started for the American League in the recent All-Star Game and leads AL catchers in homers (23) and hits (99). This is the fourth straight season in which he has smacked more than 20 homers.

His loss comes at a time in which the A’s have lost 23 of their past 29 games. The Athletics were at .500 on June 19 but now sit 17 games below the mark entering the four-game set against the lava-hot Red Sox.

Boston has won 17 of its last 19 games after Sunday’s 6-1 victory over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays.

The once-floundering team is now in the thick of the AL wild-card chase. The Red Sox are in second place in a race in which only one team below them — the third-place Cleveland Guardians — are above .500.

Jarren Duran helped fuel Sunday’s victory with three singles, two RBIs and one steal.

“I think we’re just settling into ourselves,” Duran told reporters. “Early on, we were still trying to find our identity. I feel like we’re just now coming into what we knew we could be. It’s showing and the boys have bought in since Day One.

“It’s just  baseball and we were going through that grind and we’re starting to roll and it’s awesome to see.”

Jahmai Jones contributed a pinch-hit, two-run double as Boston scored at least five runs for the eighth time during an 8-2 homestand.

“We had some really good performances across the board,” Jones said. “I felt like it was a really good team day.”

Boston sends left-hander Payton Tolle (5-6, 3.31 ERA) to the mound in the opener.

Tolle, 23, received a no-decision against the Baltimore Orioles on July 20 when he gave up four runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 innings in a 6-5 A’s win.

Tolle went 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two appearances (one start) against the A’s last season.

He served up a homer to Nick Kurtz, who just returned to the A’s lineup on Saturday after a right thumb injury.

On Sunday, in his second game, All-Star first baseman Kurtz drilled a three-run homer against the Twins. He had been in a 0-for-25 funk before the blast, which was his 21st of the season.

Right-hander Jack Perkins (2-5, 6.75) will start for the Athletics for the eighth time this season.

He took a no-decision against the host Arizona Diamondbacks last Tuesday when he gave up three runs and five hits over five innings.

In his previous two turns, Perkins gave up a combined 10 runs and nine hits — including four homers — in just 6 2/3 innings. He lost both outings.

Perkins, 26, has never faced the Red Sox.

–Field Level Media