Red Sox battle for late-night extra-innings victory on Monasterio’s clutch swing

The Red Sox found themselves in another gritty, low-scoring clash with the Athletics in a post-midnight win (East Coast time) Wednesday night. While Boston left 13 men on base, they did enough with a big swing in extra innings to preserve a 4-2 victory. 

Here’s three takeaways from Wednesday night’s win. 

SANDOVAL IS SOLID

Boston’s left-hander continued to creep further into game action and gave the Red Sox over 90 pitches and finished five innings, capping the night in style with an ABS-assisted strikeout to strand two runners.

Sandoval allowed two earned runs on a pair of solo shots while he racked up seven strikeouts. The veteran is more than capable of taking the ball with solid production down the stretch, even as he builds up his workload following a long injury recovery that finally allowed him to begin his tenure with the Red Sox. 

SOGARD SPARK
Nick Sogard got the call back to The Show after the ill-afforded injury loss of Curtis Mead to the injured list. As everyone saw during the Wild Card series last October, Sogard can offer a jolt of energy and hustle when his number is called in occasional big-league opportunities. 

He stepped up again with a run-scoring single in the sixth inning to even the score and make an impact in his return to the lineup. 

OVER .500 IN EXTRAS

The Red Sox moved to 4-3 in extra innings this season thanks to Andruw Monasterio’s longest home run of the season (428 feet) and an unlikely Greg Weissert save to nail down the victory and keep Boston in the driver’s seat to win the series Thursday.

Credit to Aroldis Chapman as well for a pair of massive strikeouts of Jacob Wilson and Jeff McNeil in the ninth inning to send the game to extras.