BOSTON -- Travis Shaw wasn't thinking about hitting for the cycle in his last at-bat against the A's in Tuesday night's 13-5 win over the Athletics. Instead, he was swinging for a career-high six RBIs. The left-handed hitter worked a full count and ended up walking, falling a triple shy.
The Red Sox treated the second game of their series against the A's like it was batting practice, accumulating 16 hits and three home runs, one of which was blasted over the Green Monster by Shaw.
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Shaw later added a double.
Contrary to the corner infielder's usual spot towards the middle-top of the lineup, Shaw was batting seventh against A's left-hander Sean Manaea. The likely reason was due to Shaw's struggles against lefties, as he's 4-for-28 on the season after going 2-for-3 against lefties on Tuesday night. All five of his RBIs on Tuesday were against southpaws.
Shaw's successful performance against the A's lefty on Tuesday -- Manaea and Daniel Coulombe -- left him feeling a little more confident in his swing. Shaw proved that he could more than hold his own against lefties last year, hitting them at a .329 clip in 82 at-bats.
"Obviously I'd like to hit lefties a little better than I have this year," Shaw said, "but feel-wise at the plate, I felt fine. I didn't feel over-matched. It's a weird circumstance where we haven't faced too many of them, especially starters."

David Ortiz's day off helped Shaw move ahead of the slugger with a team-leading .322 batting average.
Shaw is hoping the Red Sox's recent offensive spurt will carry over into the team's long stretch of 32 games in 33 days, with Boston's next off-day more than a week away.
"When the middle of the order is clicking and the bottom of the order can get on, this can be a dangerous lineup," Shaw said.