The Red Sox dropped their finale with the Athletics, 5-3, after a mostly quiet day for the lineup combined with Story’s miscues and a poor outing from righthander Brayan Bello for another bad loss at a bad time.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Connelly Early was pulled with one out in the sixth inning despite running through the Athletics on Tuesday night.

Trevor Story committed two costly errors as the Red Sox lost Thursday afternoon’s series finale to the Athletics.

The Boston Red Sox (81-65), who are currently third in the AL East, have been dominant against the Athletics (66-80) in back-to-back games, winning by 7-0 and 6-0. Boston is looking forward to yet another decisive victory as Payton Tolle (7.56 ERA) is making the third start of his MLB career.

The Red Sox open a crucial series against the Athletics as the surging Yankees apply pressure in the Wild Card race.