Boston Red Sox at Athletics

WEST SACRAMENTO – What a frenetic scene it was for the Red Sox when two slumping cornerstones turned a potential loss into a satisfying, 5-4 victory over the Athletics on back-to-back swings. Wilyer Abreu had just opened the eighth inning with an equalizing solo shot to center against Luis Medina. The right fielder hadn’t even sat down yet when he craned his neck at the crack of the bat. The noise he heard was Willson Contreras mauling a solo homer of his own on the very next pitch. Abreu was just putting down the Wally the Green Monster mask the Red Sox use every time someone goes deep when he heard the homer by Contreras before turning around in time to see it leave the park. Deftly, Abreu picked up the Wally and put it on the head of Contreras. It was another scrapbook sequence for a team that has come from the depths of being 14 games under .500 to stretches of 20-3 and 28-8 as they head to Dodger Stadium for a marquee three-game weekend series that leads into Monday’s Trade Deadline. All season long, Contreras has been the emotional leader for Boston. And aside from a couple of brief slumps, he has been the team’s best hitter. Though Contreras claimed he got jammed while hitting his 23rd homer of the season a Statcast-projected 414 feet to left, he let out a lot of joy in the moment. The fiery Contreras stood and admired the flight of the baseball, then gave a demonstrative bat flip. He pounded his chest where the uniform says “Boston,” and shouted at his teammates as he circled the bases. What was Contreras yelling and thinking? “We’re Boston,” said Contreras. “‘We’re the Boston Red Sox’ – that was the first thing that came to my mind. We are able to beat anybody, and we keep believing in each other. That was my first time thinking, like, ‘We’re the Boston Red Sox.”’