Martin Perez went five innings, allowing just a run off one hit while tossing just 74 pitches, but with the game tied at 1-1, Alex Cora decided to remove the lefty.
That move would come back to haunt them.
Matt Andriese entered the ball game with it knotted up at 1-1. He allowed a solo blast from Trey Mancini in the sixth, but would follow with a scoreless seventh. Cora kept him in for the eighth, only to lead to trouble.
Cedric Mullins tripled to start the inning, after Xander Bogaerts missed a popup in shallow right that went in and out of his glove. Mullins’ wheels allowed him to get to third base, as Mullins is in the 86th percentile of the MLB in sprint speed. That would be followed up with a walk, bringing Trey Mancini to the plate with nobody out and two on.
Mancini would deliver with an RBI single. Phillips Valdez would come in, and would then allow the runner who Andriese walked to score, making it a 4-1 ballgame.
The Red Sox one run came in the fourth, with a Hunter Renfroe RBI double. The Red Sox were limited to just four hits.
Andriese would pick up the loss, allowing three runs across 2+ innings off four hits and a walk.
The Red Sox go back to Fenway for a thee-game series against the A’s, followed by another three-game set versus a west coast team, the Angels.