Red Sox squander early opportunities, lose finale on walk-off to Athletics

Entering Wednesday Aroldis Chapman hadn t so much as given up a hit since July a stretch of dominance covering his last appearances for the Red Sox So when the veteran lefty got the ball after the Red Sox tied the battle in the top of the ninth the club had to like its chances Unfortunately for Boston it turns out Chapman is still human Related Articles Top pitching prospect headlines Red Sox s Arizona Fall League participants Source Red Sox pitching prospect to make MLB debut Dustin May to IL Garrett Crochet strikes out in dominant showing as Red Sox beat A s MLB notes Future realignment shouldn t have to spell the end of AL and NL Bats silent again as Red Sox fall to Diamondbacks for third straight loss The All-Star closer allowed his first hits in nearly two months including a walk-off single by Lawrence Butler that gave the Athletics a - win over the Red Sox The A s rally came after Rob Refsnyder tied the competition with an RBI double in the ninth but also after the Red Sox had previously squandered a litany of early scoring opportunities The loss also denied the Red Sox a three-game sweep Turn the page it s part of it Red Sox manager Alex Cora reported reporters postgame in Sacramento At one point Chapman was going to give it up and it just happened it was currently Boston initially got on the board in the top of the second after Nate Eaton hit a sky high pop-up down the right field line which dropped in after Zack Gelof and Nick Kurtz collided allowing a run to count Then in the third the Red Sox tied the challenge at - on an RBI double by Trevor Story The Red Sox could have gotten much more but stranded men at second and third in each inning By the time the A s came to bat in the bottom of the third the Red Sox were already for with runners in scoring position Whenever you don t points it s going to get you somehow someway Cora revealed We had our chances but we didn t cash in Boston eventually took a - lead on a run-scoring groundout by Jarren Duran in the fourth but the Red Sox discovered themselves in a tight spot in the bottom of the fifth when right-hander Justin Slaten loaded the bases with one out Slaten allowed a leadoff single drew a flyout and then gave up a double and a walk prompting manager Alex Cora to hand the ball to left-hander Steven Matz Matz could not escape the jam allowing a go-ahead two-run double to Tyler Soderstrom The Red Sox caught a break when A s third base coach Eric Martins sent Butler on the play as well He was easily thrown out at home so instead of having two men on with one out the A s had one man at second with two outs so when Kurtz subsequently sent a fly ball to right it was an inning-ending flyout instead of a sacrifice fly From there the bats were silent until the ninth David Hamilton led off the top of the ninth with a single but was thrown out trying to steal second That could have squashed any chances of a late rally but Carlos Narvaez drew a walk and pinch runner Ceddanne Rafaela came around to tally from first on Refsnyder s double into the left field gap But the Red Sox hurriedly uncovered themselves back in trouble when Shea Langeliers tagged Chapman for a leadoff double He advanced to third with one out on an ensuing lineout meaning the A s only needed a fly ball to get the winning run home Butler did better than that singling to right to give his unit the win The Red Sox - will now have Thursday off before opening a crucial three-game series against the New York Yankees this weekend Tolle s quick day Having already tossed more innings than he s ever thrown in his life and making his first start ever on only four days rest Payton Tolle was only expected to go once through the A s lineup before giving way to the bullpen That turned out to be two innings Though he did not look as electric as he did in his MLB debut against the Pirates a couple weeks back Tolle was sharper than he was last time out against the Diamondbacks He struck out two drew six whiffs and did not issue any walks but two of the three hits he allowed were home runs Those were both solo shots by Langeliers and Kurtz which were also each participant s th homer of the season Tolle s next outing is expected to come next week against the A s again at Fenway Park Harrison debuts After spending the first three months of his Red Sox career in Triple-A Kyle Harrison at last made his debut with the big league club on Wednesday Originally acquired in the Rafael Devers bargain the left-hander was called up for the series finale and entered Wednesday s championship in the sixth inning The -year-old proceeded to toss three scoreless innings allowing three hits while striking out two He did a good job good fastball good command great tempo That was good to see Cora announced He was very individual throughout the process and for him to go out there and give us a chance to win that was awesome While he served as a bulk reliever in his band debut Harrison has been working as a starting pitcher and projects as a possible rotation option as early as next year Since the Devers pact Harrison has posted a ERA over innings in starts with the WooSox Ironically his first big league appearance for Boston came at Sutter Fitness Park in Sacramento which was his home ballpark earlier this season while playing with the Giants Triple-A affiliate To clear space on the proceeding roster for Harrison the Red Sox optioned fellow lefty Chris Murphy to Triple-A Fall League rosters broadcasted One of the Red Sox s top pitching prospects will headline this year s Arizona Fall League participants Major League Baseball informed on Wednesday Luis Perales who at this time ranks as Boston s No prospect according to Baseball America and who is just completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery is among eight Red Sox minor leaguers who will play for the Salt River Rafters in this year s AFL The other participants include right-handers Jonathan Brand Brandon Neely and Isaac Stebens left-hander Jojo Ingrassia catcher Johanfran Garcia and outfielders Nelly Taylor and Stanley Tucker