OAKLAND -- He's only been back in the Bay Area for a bit more than 24 hours, but Pablo Sandoval, a cult figure here when he played with the Giants, has been noticed, even if he walked around the streets of San Francisco unrecognized.
On Sunday night, Sandoval was presented his third World Series ring by his former manager, Bruce Bochy, at the hotel in which the Red Sox were staying. Leading off the 11th inning Monday night across the Bay in O.co Coliseum, Sandoval lined a tie-breaking home run, lifting the Red Sox to a 5-4 win over the Athletics.
The home run was the fourth of the season and second in two games for Sandoval, who had been hitless in four previous trips. It gave the Sox their second straight victory after seven losses in their previous eight games, and provided the margin of victory for Matt Barnes's first major-league win, accomplished by two scoreless innings as the seventh Sox pitcher of the night.
The Athletics, meanwhile, are now 1-11 in one-run games and 0-6 in extra innings. Angel Castro gave up the home run to Sandoval, who lined an 0-2 pitch just over the right-field wall.
Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington, who made a scouting trip to the West Coast to check out some prospective picks in next month's amateur draft, swung by here to plumb the temperature of the big-league team under his charge.
Cherington was given some bonus time to make his evaluations, courtesy of the Oakland Athletics, who took the Sox into extra innings Monday night while they were still recovering from the jet lag induced by their Sunday night flight from Toronto.
There were things that surely pleased him:
The way Dustin Pedroia, in an exquisite dash around the bases, scored from first on a single by David Ortiz in the fourth inning.
The way Mookie Betts delivered a two-out RBI single with a runner in scoring position, a rare delicacy this season.
Another run produced by successive hits by 22-year-old Xander Bogaerts, 23-year-old Blake Swihart and 22-year-old Betts in the seventh, which surely portends good things for the future.
A leaping catch by first baseman Mike Napoli that saved two runs in the sixth.
On the minus side:
Starter Rick Porcello able to go only five innings, and twice failing to produce a shutdown inning after the Sox scored.
David Ortiz being picked off second base, even though replays clearly showed the tag was never applied by second baseman Eric Sogard (even though command center in New York watched the same replays and thought otherwise).
Left-handed reliever Craig Breslow giving back a 4-3 lead in the seventh in the span of four pitches: single, single, sacrifice fly.
Edward Mujica, a bust in Boston, shutting down the Sox in order in the eighth.