OAKLAND -- When Nick Pivetta dominated with a 13-strikeout relief outing on Monday that will live on in Red Sox history, A's manager Mark Kotsay likened him to a "buzzsaw" that carved through Oakland's lineup. 

The Red Sox seemingly ran into one of their own as the tables turned in a 3-0 loss on Tuesday night that evened the three-game set at the Coliseum.

Boston's lineup faced a familiar foe in Luis Medina, who struck out a career-high nine batters and allowed four runs on seven hits on July 7 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox were well aware of Medina's swing-and-miss potential, but this time around, the A's right-hander took it one step further by putting up zeros over 5 2/3 frames.

"I mean, he pitched well against us [at Fenway], too," manager Alex Cora said. "He's got good stuff. He had a better curveball today than at home, so he kept us off-balance. He was able to use the sinker in after slowing them down, and we didn't do much."

The Red Sox entered the day having gone 11-2 over their past 13 games, the best record in the Majors since June 30. In that span, just about everything has gone right for Boston -- on average, the lineup plated 6.5 runs per game, while the pitching staff limited opponents to 3.9.

On Tuesday, Red Sox pitchers did enough to keep the game well within reach. Opener Joe Jacques allowed three runs on a pair of homers before recording an out in the bottom of the second, but Boston pitchers held Oakland scoreless the rest of the way, highlighted by Chris Murphy's six strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings in a bulk role.

But the bats could not scratch anything across as Medina set the tone for a strong night of A's pitching. The Red Sox were held to five knocks -- including two doubles from Masataka Yoshida, his 10th multihit game in his past 12 -- and only managed to work one walk, going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranding six.

Justin Turner did manage to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, however, the longest active streak in the Majors.

“We recognized how good [Medina's] stuff was. We didn’t take it lightly," said Rob Refsnyder, who singled with two outs in the top of the ninth. "We obviously did our homework, scouting report, and sometimes you just can’t put together a string of hits or get anything going."

As hot as Boston's bats have been lately, there remains plenty of room for improvement -- and a key reinforcement is on the way.

Cora announced prior to the game that shortstop Trevor Story, who underwent an internal bracing procedure on his right elbow in February, will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Portland on Friday. It's a promising development for a Red Sox squad that could benefit from his presence, particularly at the plate.

Entering Tuesday, Red Sox shortstops had combined for a .211 batting average and a .608 OPS, both of which ranked last among all defensive positions on the team. Story's first year with Boston didn't entirely live up to expectations -- due in part to various injuries that cut his season short at 94 games -- but he has the tools to energize a Red Sox team that is already trending in the right direction.

"One thing that we know for sure is that he's going to be dynamic defensively, he's going to be dynamic running the bases," Cora said pregame. "I think it's just a matter of the timing offensively, and we'll see how we structure it. Probably take care of him early on, when he comes back. And then from there, whenever he's actually locked in, we'll make adjustments in the lineup."

Story hasn't appeared in a game since Sept. 11, 2022. Given that the team doesn't want to rush his return to action, it's possible that his rehab assignment could span the maximum 20 days, pushing his season debut to early August.

Until then, the Red Sox are aware that they can't allow one blip to disrupt the rhythm they've been in of late.

"Just a bump in the road," Refsnyder said. "I think the offense has been kind of clicking. … It happens."