The Red Sox had experienced players such as Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, and Dwight Evans, and two sensational rookies – Fred Lynn and Jim Rice.
Lynn took most of the headlines by playing a flawless center field, hitting .331 with 21 home runs and 105 RBIs, and was the first major league player to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season.
Oakland starter Ken Holtzman was saddled with the loss by yielding five hits and four runs (two unearned) with four strikeouts and a walk in 6+1⁄3 innings of work.
Carl Yastrzemski hit a two-run home run to lead the Red Sox past the Athletics, 6–3, in Game 2.
Dick Drago earned the save for pitching 1+2⁄3 innings of shutout ball for Boston while Carl Yastrzemski made two great defensive plays in left field and collected two hits.