A's Hush Red Sox, End 8-Game Losing Streak

Ryan Noda and JJ Bleday smashed early home runs as Luis Medina teamed up with four relievers to hold the Boston Red Sox to five hits, leading the Oakland Athletics to break their eight-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night.

Sam Long, Shintaro Fujinami, Sam Moll, and Trevor May also played crucial roles in Oakland's second shutout of the season, allowing them to defeat the Red Sox for the first time in five meetings this month.

All of Oakland's scoring occurred in the second inning against Red Sox opener Joe Jacques (1-1). Noda started the inning with his 11th home run of the season, and after Aledmys Diaz reached base on an infield single, Bleday hit his sixth homer, extending the lead to 3-0.

The power display came right after Oakland seemingly took a 1-0 lead in the previous inning when Tony Kemp, who led off with a triple, skillfully avoided Jorge Alfaro's tag at the plate after a pitch got away from the Red Sox catcher.

However, plate umpire Adam Hamari ruled that Kemp had gone out of the baseline as he veered left while Alfaro was diving at him, resulting in an out call and sparking an argument from Oakland manager Mark Kotsay, who was subsequently ejected.

Jacques was taken out of the game after Bleday's home run, having conceded all three Oakland runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Medina (3-7) held the Red Sox to three hits and one walk over 5 2/3 innings while striking out six.

Medina was replaced with a runner on base and two outs in the sixth, with Long taking over and inducing Masataka Yoshida to ground into a forceout, preserving the shutout.

Fujinami pitched a one-hit seventh inning, and Moll delivered a flawless 1-2-3 eighth, setting the stage for May, who navigated around a Rob Refsnyder single in the ninth to secure his seventh save.

Noda added to his impressive performance with a double for the A's, who outpaced the visitors 7-5 in hits.

Three Boston relievers combined to keep Oakland scoreless for the final 6 2/3 innings, with bulk-innings reliever Chris Murphy leading the charge with 4 2/3 innings in which he allowed just two hits while striking out six.