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| (Getty Images) |
The Red Sox won a series last night for just the second time this season with
a convincing 5-1 win over the Oakland Athletics. The principal reason for the victory was a stellar starting pitching performance by
Rick Porcello—by
far the best of the year so far.
'Once-Again-Pretty-Ricky' went
eight shutout innings—yielding just two hits and striking out eight. The offense came early, with
Mookie Betts launching his sixth home run in the first inning. Later,
Mitch Moreland (battling an 0-15 slump) powered his eighth home run to expand Boston's lead.
Michael Chavis got two more hits—and is now hitting .313. But with Porcello on the hill, the offense didn't need to do much more—although
Tyler Thornburg did his obligatory gag-job to give one run to the A's. The win pulled Boston to a 13-17 record—7 games behind first-place Tampa.
