Masataka Yoshida may not be going to the MLB All-Star Game, but there’s no denying the impact the Japanese standout has made since joining the Red Sox.
Look no further than his performance on Sunday.
Yoshida went 2 for 4 with the game-winning home run in Boston’s 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics, crushing an opposite field shot to the Green Monster seats to break a tie in the bottom of the eighth inning.
In doing so the Red Sox capped off a three-game sweep and go into the All-Star break having won eight of their last nine.
Coming into Sunday Yoshida ranked third in the American League with a .313 batting average, and before hitting the go-ahead homer he also used his legs to put himself in position to tie the game. After reaching on a single he stole second and took third on a throwing error, setting Christian Arroyo up for his ensuing RBI double to make it 3-3 in the sixth.
It was Yoshida’s sixth stolen base of the season, and it came hours after Red Sox manager Alex Cora joked about how he’d caught the club by surprise by even swiping five.
“Nobody expected that, not even us,” Cora joked.
Though the Red Sox had no shortage of baserunners through the early innings, they didn’t break through for their first hit until the bottom of the fifth, when Justin Turner hit a double high off the Green Monster and just barely missed a home run.
Prior to that point Boston had six men reach — including at least one in every inning — on three walks, two hit by pitches and an error. In spite of that traffic Oakland starter J.P. Sears got the job done, and the only score the Red Sox could manage against him over five innings was an unearned run on an Adam Duvall sacrifice fly in the first.
Meanwhile, Oakland pulled ahead 3-1 on a throwing error by catcher Jorge Alfaro in the first, a bases-loaded walk by Ryan Noda in the second and a solo home run by Brent Rooker in the fifth.
Once Sears left the game, however, the Red Sox bats returned to life. Adam Duvall greeted Oakland right-hander Paul Blackburn with a solo shot to the Green Monster to lead off the sixth, and shortly afterwards Boston tied the game at 3-3 after Masataka Yoshida singled, stole second and took third on a throwing error, and then came around to score an an RBI double to the gap by Christian Arroyo.
Boston’s pitching did its part keeping the game within reach.
Opener Tayler Scott pitched the first and allowed just the unearned run on Alfaro’s throwing error, and rookie left-hander Chris Murphy limited the Athletics to one run despite walking four over three innings while throwing just 38 of his 67 pitches for strikes.
Murphy faced an especially tough spot in the second when he allowed a single and two walks to load the bases with one out. Though he did walk in a run, he managed to avoid disaster by getting Tony Kemp to ground into a fielder’s choice and later forced No. 3 hitter Seth Brown to fly out to end the inning.
Josh Winckowski walked a similar tightrope over his two innings, allowing five hits and a run on Rooker’s solo shot. He came out after allowing two straight singles to open the seventh, but recently activated lefty Joely Rodriguez was able to escape the jam with three straight outs, including two strikeouts to end the threat.
Chris Martin then worked around a pair of singles to pitch a scoreless eighth, and closer Kenley Jansen locked things down for his 19th save of the season.
Boston will now rest and recover over the next four days before picking back up at Wrigley Field on Friday to start a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. In the meantime Jansen will represent the Red Sox in the MLB All-Star Game, which will be played Tuesday in Seattle starting at 8 p.m. ET.