Bangkok Post

Moreland’s slam lifts Red Sox to eighth straight, Scherzer outduels Kershaw in LA

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>> OAKLAND: Mitch Moreland hit reliever Emilio Pagan’s first pitch of the evening for a tie-breaking grand slam in the sixth inning on Friday night, propelling the Boston Red Sox to their eighth straight win, a 7-3 triumph over the Oakland Athletics.

The Red Sox trailed the opener of a three-game series 3-0 after one inning, but quickly evened the score on a three-run home run by Jackie Bradley Jr in the second, setting the stage for Moreland’s game-winning blow four innings later.

Right-hander Hector Velasquez (3-0) pitched three innings of shut-out relief to get the win. A’s starter Kendall Graveman (0-4), who loaded the bases in the sixth, took the loss.

Graveman had retired 11 straight batters following Bradley’s homer before Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and Hanley Ramirez singled consecutiv­ely to open the sixth. Pagan then came on and immediatel­y served up Moreland’s grand slam, the third of his career and first since 2016. The homer was Moreland’s second of the season.

New York’s Robert Gsellman pitched two innings of scoreless relief and scored the winning run in the 12th inning to give his team a 5-3 win over Atlanta at SunTrust Park.

Gsellman, who batted for himself in the 12th, was hit by a pitch by Atlanta reliever Josh Ravin. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by Yoenis Cespedes. Gsellman slid in ahead of the throw from right fielder Nick Markakis. The Mets added an insurance run when Asdrubel Cabrera doubled to right to drive in Cespedes.

New York closer Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless 12th, giving him 11 1/3 consecutiv­e scoreless innings, to earn his eighth save.

Max Scherzer struck out nine in six innings and outduelled Clayton Kershaw in a match-up of three-time Cy Young Award winners as Washington defeated Los Angeles 5-2 in the opener of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

The right-handed Scherzer (4-1) allowed one run and four hits and walked three as the Nationals improved to 3-1 on a nine-game road trip. Kershaw (1-3) gave up four runs and nine hits over seven innings.

 ??  ?? Boston’s Mitch Moreland watches his grand slam off Oakland’s Emilio Pagan.
Boston’s Mitch Moreland watches his grand slam off Oakland’s Emilio Pagan.

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