 allowed only two hits and walked two while winning his second straight start. He also became the first starter to go past the seventh inning for the World Series champion Red Sox in a rough opening month of the season.Mookie Betts and Mitch Moreland homered for Boston and the Red Sox won for the fourth time in six games.Tyler Thornburg pitched the ninth and lost the shutout when Robbie Grossman hit a leadoff homer.Aaron Brooks (2-3) pitched 4 1-3 innings for Oakland, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks.Betts put Boston up 1-0 with a homer in the first, his sixth of the season. Sandy Leon added an RBI single in the second and Moreland added a two-run homer in the fourth to make it 4-0.Brooks, who pitched six scoreless innings and struck out six against the Red Sox on April 1 in Oakland, had just two strikeouts this time. He left the game after Rafael Devers doubled in J. D. Martinez, who reached on an error by center fielder Ramon Laureano, to put Boston up 5-0.Before Grossman's homer off Thornburg, Oakland's only hits were Laureano's leadoff single in the third and a two-out double by Nick Hundley in the fifth.GOOD BETTSBetts scored his 500th career run when he touched the plate on his home run. The only other Red Sox players to score 500 runs within their first 700 games were Nomar Garciaparra, Johnny Pesky and Ted Williams.TRAINER'S ROOMAthletics: INF Matt Olson (right hand surgery) will join Triple-A Las Vegas to start a rehab assignment Wednesday.Red Sox: Utility player Brock Holt has been shut down after aggravating a sore shoulder during a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket. Holt has been on the injured list with a scratched cornea since April 6.UP NEXTAthletics: RHP Mike Fiers (2-2, 7.03 ERA) is scheduled to start in the series finale Wednesday afternoon.Red Sox: Manager Alex Cora said the Boston was still to be determined.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Chavis, Red Sox hoping to stay hot against Athletics The Boston Red Sox saw one big inning possibly change the complexion of their homestand while that same frame continued a tough start to the Oakland Athletics' road trip.The Red Sox look to ride the momentum of their six-run third inning in the series opener into Tuesday night's contest against the Athletics.Rookie Michael Chavis drove in a season-high three runs in Monday's 9-4 victory over Oakland, boosting his total to eight RBIs in his first 28 major league at-bats after Boston improved to 3-4 on its nine-game homestand."Just helping the team," the 23-year-old Chavis told NESN. "Not trying to be anything special or anything crazy. Just do my part wherever I'm needed and that's what I've been trying to do." Mookie Betts had three singles to give him four multi-hit performances in his last five games. The reigning American League Most Valuable Player has seen his batting average elevate from .238 to .287 in that stretch."Great to see everyone trying to do their part," Betts said of Boston's six-run outburst in the third inning. "Not trying to do too much. Just doing what we can to score runs." Betts will look to keep his hot streak going against Oakland right-hander Aaron Brooks (2-2, 5.33 ERA), who allowed three runs on six hits and recorded a season-high seven strikeouts on Wednesday in a no-decision against Texas.Brooks, however, was taken deep on two occasions and has surrendered six homers in his last four trips to the mound.The 29-year-old Brooks scattered two hits and struck out six in six innings of a 7-0 win against Boston on April 1. Brooks owns a 1-0 mark with a 2.89 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in two appearances (one start) versus the Red Sox, although Xander Bogaerts is 3-for-4 with three doubles against him.Brooks would benefit from a much better defensive performance than Oakland displayed in the series opener, as two errors opened the floodgates for the six-run third -- including second baseman Jurickson Profar misfiring on a throw to second base."It looked like he just didn't get a great handle on it and then tried to be quick with the throw," Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. "Just kind of obviously threw it low. You've got a chance for a double play and get out of the inning there, and it just got out of hand a little bit." Profar ripped a two-run single prior to that miscue and is 2-for-28 in his last eight contests for the Athletics, who have lost the first four contests of their nine-game road trip.Boston right-hander Rick Porcello (1-3, 7.43 ERA) will look to further the respective slumps of Profar and Oakland on Tuesday.Porcello picked up his first win on Thursday after yielding three runs on six hits in six innings of a 7-3 victory against Detroit.The 2016 AL Cy Young Award recipient owns a 6-6 record with a 4.02 ERA in 15 appearances (14 starts) against Oakland, and he has flustered Marcus Semien (0-for-15, four strikeouts).--Field Level Media
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