Red Sox 4, Athletics 2
Red Sox 4, Athletics 2: Dustin Pedroia lined a go-ahead two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning and made a sparkling defensive play to help John Lackey pick up a win as visiting Boston topped Oakland.
Brock Holt also had a two-run single in the second inning for the Red Sox, who set a franchise record for wins before the All-Star break with their 58th. Lackey (7-6) allowed two runs on three hits in seven innings to improve to 19-6 lifetime against the Athletics.
Jarrod Parker matched Lackey through seven frames before turning a 2-2 game over to the bullpen in the eighth. Sean Doolittle (3-3) gave up a leadoff single to Jose Iglesias, who moved to second on a sacrifice by Holt and third on Jacoby Ellsbury's groundout.
After Shane Victorino was hit by a pitch and stole second, Pedroia greeted Ryan Cook with a base hit to left field. Andrew Bailey worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth and Koji Uehara struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his eighth save as Boston improved to 5-3 on its 10-game West Coast trip.
John Jaso had an RBI single in the fifth and Jed Lowrie launched a home run to right in the sixth for Oakland. With runners on the corners and one out following Jaso's hit, Pedroia started an inning-ending double play with a remarkable stab of a one-hopper and feed to Iglesias from his stomach.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Boston acquired LHP Matt Thornton from the Chicago White Sox for minor league OF Brandon Jacobs. ... Red Sox manager John Farrell announced that rookie RHP Brandon Workman will make his first career start in Sunday's series finale. ... Parker did not walk a batter and retired the final 16 he faced following Holt's two-run single.