Franchy Cordero hit a three-run homer and Rich Hill allowed just a run on three hits over six innings as the Boston Red Sox capped a three-game sweep of the host Oakland Athletics with a 5-2 victory Sunday.
Hill (2-3), who had five strikeouts and no walks, was dominant in leading Boston to its fourth straight win, which pushed the Red Sox to .500 (27-27) for the first time since they were 7-7 after defeating Tampa Bay on April 22.
Cordero’s homer came in the sixth inning and gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.
After Rafael Devers’ run-scoring single scored Jarren Duran for a 1-0 lead in Boston’s first at-bat, the A’s tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Ramon Laureano’s double scored Chad Pinder.
But then Hill and Oakland’s Frankie Montas took over. Hill retired 16 straight A’s after Laureano’s double before he was relieved by John Schreiber to open the seventh inning. Montas allowed just one hit — a double by Bobby Dalbec in the second — before running into trouble in the sixth.
After Devers walked and advanced to second when Xander Bogaerts reached on third baseman Kevin Smith’s throwing error, Montas retired Alex Verdugo and Trevor Story. But Cordero blasted his next pitch 406 feet over the left-center-field fence for the 4-1 lead.
Montas (2-6), who allowed four runs (one earned) on six hits with seven strikeouts and a walk, was relieved by Zach Jackson to start the seventh.
The A’s loaded the bases in seventh with two outs, but Schreiber struck out Smith to end the threat.
Devers, who finished 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs and a walk, hit a solo homer in the eighth to push Boston’s lead to 5-1.
Oakland, which pulled to 5-2 on Tony Kemp’s run-scoring single in the ninth, has lost six straight games and nine of its past 10.
–Field Level Media