Red Sox’s Masataka Yoshida Snaps 3-Game Homer Drought

Boston Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida was 0-for-6 in his previous three games with three strikeouts and two walks before going 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk and a strikeout Wednesday night in a 6-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Yoshida’s 10th home run of the season came on a 1-1 curveball from Rays starter Drew Rasmussen and traveled 396 feet to center field, according to Statcast. It was Yoshida’s first home run since July 19.

Yoshida has been one of the Red Sox’s most consistent hitters this season, batting .293 with a .369 on-base percentage and a .512 slugging percentage. He leads the team in home runs and RBIs (46).

The Red Sox (56-52) have lost three of their last four games and are now 3 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East.

Yoshida’s home run gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead in the second inning, but the Rays came back to tie the game in the fourth inning on a home run by Harold Ramirez.

The Rays took the lead in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Ji-Man Choi, but the Red Sox tied the game in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Kiké Hernández and a single by Trevor Story.

The Rays won the game in the bottom of the ninth inning on a walk-off single by Yandy Díaz.