All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 6-5 loss to the Athletics, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
The Red Sox fell to the lowly Athletics, 6-5, on Wednesday afternoon. The loss snaps the Sox' streak of four straight series wins.
Brayan Bello had his worst start of the season giving up five hits, surrendering six earned runs, three homers and two walks while striking out three over four innings.
Bello had only allowed 10 homers in his first 15 starts (including two in against the Cubs), but the A’s walloped the righty for three.
Oakland’s JJ Bleday lead the A’s offense with a pair of hits, including a two-run blast off Bello. Bleday hit two homers in the series, connecting in back-to-back games.
The four innings tossed by Bello has his shortest appearance of the season since May 30 against the Reds.
The Red Sox (51-46) are now 2 1/2 games out of the third wild card spot, trailing the Astros (53-43), who beat the Rockies, 4-1, on Wednesday afternoon.
TURNING POINT
Cody Thomas broke up the tie in the second inning when he hammered a changeup for a two-run homer off Bello. It was his first career home run and his first two career RBI. Jace Peterson put a cherry on top of Bello’s start hitting his sixth homer of the year in the fourth inning.
UP
Justin Turner extended his hitting streak to a league-leading 15-game hitting streak with a two-run home run in the first inning. He plated three runs in the game when he added a run on a groundout in the fifth inning.
Josh Winckowski settled down Oakland’s offense posting two innings of scoreless relief. The right-handed hurler struck out four batters in his second straight scoreless appearance.
Boston generated some offense in the fifth inning scoring two runs. Rob Refsnyder laced a run-scoring single and Turner added his grounder to second to plate a run. Adam Duvall scored a run after he reached first on a throwing error and took third as the ball kicked around the Sox bullpen area.
DOWN
Rafael Devers was back in the lineup after missing two straight with a calf issue. The left-hander went 0-for-4 snapping his five-game hitting streak.
The Sox offense left 13 runners on base, including only going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Boston had gone 11-for-30 (.367) with runners in scoring position in their last three games, after going 1-for-16 (.063) in their previous two.
UP NEXT
After wrapping up a six-game road trip to begin the second half, Boston will return home. Following an off-day on Thursday, the Sox will welcome the Mets in a three-game set at Fenway Park this weekend. James Paxton will get the start on Friday night, first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., and it can bee seen on NESN or heard on WEEI 93.7 FM.