FINAL: Red Sox 7, Athletics 0 - Offense explodes in blowout win

The Red Sox defeated the Oakland Athletics 7-0 on Thursday night to take two out of three in the series. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Tanner Houck went 6 scoreless innings striking out six and walking only three, allowing two hits. Oakland did not have their first hit of the game until the 5th inning. Houck earned his eighth win of the season coming before the All-Star Break. 

• Wilyer Abreu went 3-4 with two RBIs and only a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. He was without a hit the first four games before the Oakland series. 

• Masataka Yoshida has been heating up ever since coming back from his thumb injury as he went 3-4 with four RBIs. 

• Connor Wong hit his eighth homer of the season that went 420 feet and finished 2-3 at the plate with a walk. 

The Red Sox will welcome the Kansas City Royals to Fenway Park tomorrow night to begin a big three-game weekend series starting at 7:10 p.m. 

_______________________________

WHO: Oakland Athletics (35-59) vs Red Sox (50-41)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park, Boston
SERIES TO DATE: 1-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Tanner Houck (7-6, 2.68 ERA) vs. RHP Luis Medina (2-3, 4.37 ERA)
TV/RADIO: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
LIVE BOX
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Duran CF
Hamilton 2B
O'Neill LF
Devers 3B
Wong C
Yoshida DH
Abreu RF
Smith 1B
Rafaela SS

SP Tanner Houck

ATHLETICS
Bleday CF
Andujar LF
Rooker DH
Butler RF
Gelof 2B
Brown 1B
McCann C
Harris 3B
Schuemann SS

SP Luis Medina 
WHAT'S UP

• The Red Sox lost the middle game of this series last night vs. OAK, 5-2.                  
•   Jarren Duran went 3-for-5 with a stolen base...It was his 10th game with 3+ hits, tied for 3rd-most in MLB.     
•  Duran ranks 5th in MLB and 2ndamong outfielders in bWAR (4.7; see box on right).                  
•   He's the 1st American League player ever to record 100 hits, 10 triples, 10 HR and 20 stolen bases before the All-Star break...The only NL player to do so was NYM's José Reyes in 2008.                                        
• Last night's starter, Nick Pivetta, struck out 8 consecutive batters from the 3rd-7th innings, tying the Sox' franchise record for the 2nd time this season (also Pivetta on 5/30 vs. DET and Roger Clemens on 4/29/86 vs. SEA).                   
•  Pivetta is just the 3rd pitcher since at least 1900 to strike out 8+ consecutive batters within a game multiple times in their career, joining Jacob deGrom (4 times) and Nolan Ryan (twice).                                        
•  The Red Sox have won 7 of their last 9 games...They're 17-7 in their last 24 games, since 6/12.
• BOS is 28-17 (.622) in its last 45 games, beginning 5/19, tied with CLE for MLB's best record in that span.
•  At 50-41 (.549), the Sox own MLB's 9th-best record.
•  Boston is currently on a 6-game homestand vs. OAK (1-1) and KC (3 games), leading into the All-Star break.
• The Red Sox are 8-2 in rubber games this season, including 5-0 at home.
• Boston has won each of its last 4 rubber games (6/13 vs. PHI, 6/16 vs. NYY, 6/23 at CIN, 7/7 at NYY).
• The Sox have outscored opponents in rubber games, 58-34 (+24).
• With a win tonight, Boston would improve to 15-10-5 in series play (7-5-3 at home).
• The Sox have won or tied 10 of their last 11 series (6-1-4).
• Tonight's starter, Tanner Houck, ranks T-4th among MLB pitchers in fWAR (3.2).
• He ranks 6th in MLB in ERA (2.68) and FIP (2.69).
•  Boston ranks in the AL's top 5 in doubles (3rd, 163), triples (T-2nd, 24), XBH (3rd, 293), AVG (4th, .253), OBP (4th, .322), SLG (5th, .421), and OPS (5th, .743).
• The Sox have recorded 10+ hits in 33 games, tied with BAL and KC for 3rd-most in the AL (HOU-43, MIN-36)...They're an MLB-best 30-3 (.909) when recording 10+ hits.