Brent Rooker's HR fuels Athletics past Red Sox

Brent Rooker homered during a three-run first inning that helped the visiting Athletics defeat the Boston Red Sox 5-3 on Thursday.

Rooker's home run, his 30th of the season, came against Boston starter Brayan Bello and gave the Athletics a 2-0 lead. Nick Kurtz scored on Tyler Soderstrom's single later in the first inning to make it 3-0.

J.T. Ginn (4-6) pitched the first six innings to earn the win. He limited Boston to two runs on two hits, struck out three and walked one. Hogan Harris earned his fourth save by pitching the final two innings. He gave up one run and struck out three.

Bello (11-8) was pulled after four innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits.

The Athletics (72-81) won two games in the three-game series and have won six of their last seven.

The Red Sox (83-70) dropped the opener 2-1 on Tuesday before winning 5-4 in 10 innings on Wednesday. Boston has lost five of its last seven games.

David Hamilton and Trevor Story each homered for Boston, but Story also committed two errors, each of which cost the Red Sox a run.

Story and Nate Eaton both collected two hits in the loss. The Athletics retired 13 straight Boston batters before Eaton singled with one out in the seventh.

It was 3-1 after Story scored on Masataka Yoshida's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first. Hamilton's fifth home run of the season made it 3-2 in the second.

Kurtz scored on Story's throwing error to make it 4-2 in the third, and the Athletics led 5-2 after Lawrence Butler scored on Story's throwing error in the seventh. Butler had two of his team's eight hits.

Story's 25th home run trimmed Boston's deficit to 5-3 in the eighth.

Boston had just two hits over the final seven innings.