Jack Cust hit a two-run homer and Matt Watson hit his first career home run to lead the host Oakland Athletics to a 6-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon.
Cust connected to center field with a blast in the third inning to give Oakland a 3-1 lead and the Athletics wouldn’t trail again while winning for the seventh time in eight games.
Oakland scored three times in the fifth to take a 6-2 lead on Mark Ellis’ run-scoring single and Rajai Davis’ two-run single.
Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer in the sixth to cut the Boston deficit to 6-4. Beltre went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He also had a run-scoring single in the first.
Gio Gonzalez (9-6) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings for the win.
Three Oakland relievers held Boston to one hit over the final three innings, including Michael Wuertz, who pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
Watson’s initial big-league homer tied the game at 1-1 in the second.
Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz pitched for the first time since injuring a hamstring in late June. Buchholz (10-5) gave up five runs and six hits in four innings.
Boston | Oakland | |
Clay Buchholz | Player | Gio Gonzalez |
Loss | W/L | Win |
4.0 | IP | 6.0 |
2 | Strikeouts | 3 |
6 | Hits | 7 |
11.25 | ERA | 6.00 |
Boston | Oakland | |
Adrian Beltre | Player | Jack Cust |
3 | Hits | 2 |
3 | RBI | 2 |
1 | HR | 1 |
6 | TB | 5 |
.750 | Avg | .667 |