BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox shelled struggling Oakland ace Sonny Gray for six runs in the fourth inning, and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a grand slam and drove in six runs in a 14-7 rout of the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series Monday night at Fenway Park.
David Ortiz stroked two doubles and Bradley had a two-run single in the big inning that wiped out a 4-1 deficit and helped send the A’s to their third straight loss. Oakland has allowed 24 total runs in the past two games.
The Red Sox moved into a virtual tie for first place in the AL East with the Baltimore Orioles, whose scheduled game was rained out at Minnesota.
Brock Holt added a two-run homer in the fifth and the sizzling Bradley drilled his slam in the sixth.
Travis Shaw had three hits, and Ortiz drove in his second run of the game with his third hit — a seventh-inning pop fly that dropped in front of home plate.
Boston starter Clay Buchholz (2-3) staggered through five innings to win his second straight. He allowed four runs on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Bradley, who has a 15-game hitting streak, had three hits and is 21-for-55 (.382) during the streak. He is 6-for-8 with 15 RBIs with the bases loaded the last two seasons. The smooth-fielding Bradley did drop a fly ball for a run in the seventh inning — his first error of the season.
Buchholz heard boos when Khris Davis homered to give Oakland a 4-1 lead in the third, but the right-hander made it through five before the bullpen took over.
Gray, who entered the game with a career-worst 4.84 ERA, including 7.88 in his last three starts, couldn’t hold a three-run lead and was gone after 3 2/3 innings.
In his last three starts, Gray (3-4) has totaled 12 2/3 innings and yielded 18 earned runs on 21 hits. His season ERA ballooned to 6.00, and he has matched his career high of seven runs allowed each of his last two starts.
Yonder Alonso hit two doubles, and Coco Crisp had two hits, two walks and three runs for the A’s.
Oakland’s Josh Reddick saw his streak of eight consecutive hits end with a first-inning RBI groundout. The eight hits in as many at-bats (he also had a walk mixed in) tied a club record, last tied by Dave Magadan in 1997. Reddick, 10-for-12 over the weekend in Baltimore, went 1-for-4, driving in a run with a ninth-inning single.
Davis also had an RBI single in the ninth.
Oakland third baseman Danny Valencia left the game in the second inning with left hamstring tightness — just three days after coming off the disabled list following his recovery from a left hamstring injury. He was injured opening the top of the inning with a single that was knocked down by second baseman Dustin Pedroia, and he wound up scoring his team’s third run before leaving.
NOTES: Oakland manager Bob Melvin will name his starter for Wednesday’s series finale on Tuesday, with RH Eric Surkamp the likely choice. Surkamp was 0-2 with a 5.59 ERA in four starts before being sent to the minors. … Boston 3B Pablo Sandoval spoke to the media for the first time since undergoing season-ending left shoulder surgery last week, saying, “People said that I was faking. You (the media) said that I was faking. I don’t fake at all, because I (have proven) that I can play through pain. So, I don’t have to prove it at all. I just now focus to do all my things out there. I got the surgery already, so now I’m going to focus on the rehab and get healthy (for) next year.” … Red Sox manager John Farrell was fined but not suspended for coming back onto the field after his ejection on Friday night.
Yankees 6, Royals 3
NEW YORK — Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman allowed a run in the ninth inning during his season debut, and New York hit five solo home runs, two by Carlos Beltran, in a 6-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.
After completing his 30-day suspension for an offseason domestic-violence incident, Chapman was activated from the restricted list. He began warming up during the bottom of the eighth and heard cheers from the crowd of 41,243 when he entered the game as the scoreboard highlighted his name with a flame-filled graphic to illustrate his ability to throw fastballs 100 mph.
His first two pitches to Omar Infante were strikes clocked at 100 mph. His next two were out of the strike zone and clocked at 101 mph.
Chapman reached a full count when he threw an 88 mph pitch over catcher Brian McCann’s glove but struck out Infante swinging on a 97 mph fastball. The left-hander struck out Cheslor Cuthbert on a 101 mph fastball, then gave up a double to pinch hitter Paulo Orlando and an RBI single to Alcides Escobar.
After Escobar’s single, Chapman finished his 17-pitch outing by fielding Lorenzo Cain’s soft grounder and accepting handshakes from his teammates.
Before Chapman’s debut, the Yankees hit five solo shots off Chris Young (1-5). It was New York’s first game with five home runs since Sept. 2, 2015.
McCann went deep to right-center in the first inning.
After Kansas City’s Alex Gordon tied the game with a solo homer in the second, Beltran homered in the bottom of the inning to put New York on top for good.
Nationals 5, Tigers 4
WASHINGTON — Pinch-hitter Clint Robinson hit a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth off Mark Lowe as the Washington Nationals beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 on Monday, sending the Tigers to their seventh loss in a row.
Robinson’s homer came one batter after Danny Espinosa was ejected after he was called out on strikes by home plate umpire Brian Knight.
It may not have been a magical night on the mound for Stephen Strasburg, but Nationals fans may be willing to forgive the right-handed pitcher in the short term.
Strasburg, 27, gave up four runs, including two homers, in seven innings to the Tigers on a night that several media outlets reported that he had signed a seven-year contract extension with the team. He struck 11 batters — the 24th time in his career has fanned at least 10 — but did not figure in the decision.
The starter from San Diego State did fan the side in the seventh as he retired nine batters in a row, six of them by strikeout. Strasburg walked Miguel Cabrera to lead off the eighth and was replaced by Blake Treinen.
The winning pitcher was Shawn Kelley (1-0), who got the last out in top of the ninth, while Lowe (1-2) suffered the loss.
Ben Revere of the Nationals had a sacrifice fly off reliever Kyle Ryan to tie the game at 4-4 in the seventh.
The Nationals had trimmed the margin to 4-3 with a two-run homer in the sixth by Daniel Murphy (two hits), who entered the game hitting .395 with 18 extra-base hits.
Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez entered the game with a lifetime mark of 9-1 and an ERA of 1.98 in 21 starts against Washington. He gave up four earned runs on six hits in six innings plus three batters Monday and also did not figure in the decision.
J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos had two hits apiece for the Tigers. Washington (20-12) snapped a four-game losing streak while the Tigers (14-17) got off to a bad start on their road trip.
Strasburg gave up two homers in the first five innings, and they were hit at about the same time that multiple outlets, including CBS Sports, reported that Strasburg had agreed to a seven-year, $175 million extension.