Tolle grinds, Mead exits, Rafaela hits grand slam in Red Sox win

WEST SACRAMENTO – Away from the electrified air of Fenway Park, where the Red Sox just finished their best homestand of the season, interim manager Chad Tracy’s squad took a little while to get going on West Coast time in Monday night’s opener of a four-game series against the Athletics.

But by the mid innings, the scorching Sox were on their way to yet another victory, this one by a score of 4-2 at Sutter Health Park.

Here are some key takeaways.

1. Tolle learning to grind
Everyone knows how special rookie lefty Payton Tolle’s arsenal is. But as he gets to the “dog days” portion of his first full MLB season, he is showing he has the ability to grind – and win – without his best stuff.

Such was the case on Monday, as Tolle held the Athletics to two runs (solo homers) over 5 2/3 innings in which he walked one and struck out seven. In so doing, he reached a career high in innings with 110, including 15 to start the season at Triple-A.

“It's kind of that time of year where these count,” said Tolle. “These are starting to count more and more, and understanding that, but not putting too much pressure on it, and just going into each day, ‘How do we win today?’”

Tolle realizes the Red Sox are going to take care of him health-wise. That said, he hopes the reins aren’t too tight.

“I feel good. I hope that they continue to let me go out there and keep pushing limits,” said Tolle. “And I’m sure that the innings, workload or whatever it is, it's part of it. But I hope that I can continue to push and listen to the body and listen to how everything's feeling. What do I need that day? I’ve just got to keep going.”

2. Mead dodges serious injury
Curtis Mead was thrilled to make his Red Sox debut, two days after he was acquired from the Nationals for lefty Connelly Early. This wasn’t how he drew up his first game for Boston.

After striking out looking in his first at-bat, Mead was drilled on the left wrist in the fourth inning. He wound up exiting in the bottom of the fifth inning. Fortunately, X-rays came back negative and the diagnosis is a contusion. The right-handed hitter is day to day.

“He's sore,” said Tracy. “We're just going to take it day to day and see how he feels coming in, but he’s a little sore. But, at least right now, it looks like we dodged a bullet, maybe.”

3. Rafaela looks well-suited for new spot
With Mead in the fold, Tracy made some alterations to his batting order. Ceddanne Rafaela moved from second to fifth. Wilyer Abreu moved back a spot to cleanup and Willson Contreras moved up a spot to third. Mead was in the No. 2 spot before leaving the game.

It stands to reason that Rafaela will get more opportunities to do damage in the five-hole, and that’s exactly what he did Monday, lofting a grand slam that lifted the red-hot Red Sox to their latest win.

“I’m good with it,” Rafaela said. “Probably, I’m going to drive in more runs, so I’m cool with it.”