Red Sox latest winning streak ends at 9 games with 7-3 loss to Athletics

The Boston Red Sox almost did it again.

Two nights after rallying from behind five times to defeat the Chicago White Sox in 13 innings, Boston was down by four runs to the Athletics going into the bottom of the ninth with their nine-game winning streak at stake.

Facing A’s closer Hogan Harris, Jahmai Jones hit a one-out double. But Harris then struck out Ceddanne Rafaela, getting him to chase a fastball that darted inside way out of the strike zone. Caleb Durbin kept the inning alive for the Red Sox, hitting a middle-middle slider for a single to drive in Jones.

Was it happening again?

Willson Contreras followed up with a single as Harris again left a pitch in the middle of the zone. Perhaps trying to overcompensate, the A’s closer then stayed largely out of the zone but walked Andruw Monasterio as a result.

Bases loaded with two outs. A base hit by new addition Eli White could trim the deficit. An extra-base knock might even tie the score. And if White hit a home run, the magic would continue for the Red Sox.

However, the mystic fortune couldn’t push Boston over the hump on Saturday night. Harris once again threw a fastball right down the middle of the zone and White drove it to center field, briefly giving a jolt to the fans at Fenway Park. But the fly ball fell a few feet short of the warning track and Henry Bolte caught it for the final out.

The Red Sox’s latest winning streak ended at nine games. But Boston is still the hottest baseball team on the planet, winning 27 of their past 31 games.

A’s starter Gage Jump was sensational, racking up 11 strikeouts in 6 innings while allowing 2 runs and 3 hits. Bolte and Tyler Soderstrom each hit home runs off Red Sox reliever Raymond Burgos. Boston starter Jake Bennett gave up 4 runs, 5 hits and 3 walks in his 5 1/3 innings. He’s allowed 3 or more runs in four consecutive starts.

Curiously, the Athletics have given the Red Sox their only two losses during their past 13 games. Jump won the July 28 matchup as well, pitching 6 scoreless innings with 7 strikeouts. And Bennett also took a loss for Boston.

The Red Sox will attempt to get the win train back on track on Sunday by starting trade deadline addition Erik Miller in a bullpen game. Miller, a left-handed reliever, was acquired from the San Francisco Giants on Monday in a surprising deal for former shortstop prospect Marcelo Mayer.