Masataka Yoshida may not be going to the MLB All-Star Game, but there’s no denying the impact the Japanese standout has had 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. By doing so he and the Red Sox capped off a three-game sweep and go into the All-Star break having won five straight and eight of their last nine.
“That was awesome,” Yoshida said via translator Keiichiro Wakabayashi. “I think that’s the best result (of the year so far).”
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. After the game Cora offered additional praise for the outfielder, saying he’s proven a lot of people wrong since coming to MLB.
“I know a lot of people still have question marks, but what he’s doing is what good hitters do,” Cora said of Yoshida. “He puts the ball in play, hits it hard, he takes his walks and doesn’t strike out. He hits the ball all over the place against lefties and righties and I’m glad we took a chance.”
“The only thing I can do is prepare well,” Yoshida said. “So that’s one of my goals for the second half of the season.”
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. 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 thanks to Yoshida and 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.
“It’s feels special to be able to come through today, even more after the injuries I’ve had and not being able to pitch as much as I wanted to,” Rodriguez said via translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “For me today to come through for the team and win the game means a lot.”
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 up 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.