WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Nick Kurtz joined Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire as the only Athletics rookies to hit 30 home runs and Lawrence Butler hit a ninth-inning walk-off single in a 5-4 win Wednesday over the Boston Red Sox and Aroldis Chapman, whose seven-week hitless streak ended.
Kurtz led off the second inning with a 357-foot shot to left field off Payton Tolle to give the A’s a 2-1 lead. He is the 32nd player to hit 30 homers as a rookie. Canseco hit 33 in 1986 and McGwire hit 49 the following season.