BOSTON – Eric Chavez and Scott Hatteberg homered to lead Oakland’s best offensive game of the season, and the Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox 15-2 Thursday night.

Mark Mulder (6-2) had his streak of three complete games snapped, allowing two runs on four hits and issuing a career-high seven walks in 5 2-3 innings. He struck out four.

The Athletics scored three runs in both the first and second innings and added six in the fourth when they had a homer, four doubles and a single. They added three unearned runs in the seventh and salvaged the series finale after allowing 21 runs in losing the first two games.

Boston’s winning streak ended at five games after its pitching staff, which began the night with a major league-best 3.53 ERA, allowed a season-high 17 hits and the most runs allowed by the Red Sox since a 15-9 loss to Tampa Bay on July 24.

Bronson Arroyo (2-2) gave up nine runs – six earned – and seven hits in 3 1-3 innings.

Oakland’s 15 total runs and six runs in an inning were season highs. Mulder’s previous career high for walks was five against Texas on April 21, 2001.

The Athletics went ahead 3-0 in the first on Chavez’s RBI groundout and Erubiel Durazo’s two-run double, the first of his four hits. In the second, Eric Byrnes doubled in a run and scored on Chavez’s AL leading 13th homer of the year, a two-run shot. Arroyo pitched a perfect third then struggled again in the fourth. Doubles by Bobby Crosby, Marco Scutaro and Byrnes produced two runs and brought in Jamie Brown to replace Arroyo.

Chavez then walked, Jermaine Dye made it 9-0 with an RBI double and Hatteberg hit his fifth homer to add three more runs as Gabe Kapler fell over the low wall in right-field and into the stands trying to track down the fly.

In Mulder’s last appearance in Fenway Park on Aug. 19, he left the game after three innings with what was believed to be a right hip strain. It later was diagnosed as a stress fracture in his right leg and he didn’t pitch again last year.

On Thursday, he walked the bases loaded in the first but didn’t allow a run through the fifth. With one out in the sixth, Kevin Youkilis walked, Kapler doubled and Pokey Reese drove in a run with a groundout. Doug Mirabelli then singled in Kapler.

Notes: Trot Nixon went 0-for-3 with a walk and made two catches in right field in an extended spring training game Thursday.

Nixon went on Boston’s disabled list with a mildly herniated disc in his lower back in spring training, then pulled a muscle in his right thigh. “He ran at about 75 percent and the word was that it was encouraging,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said in Boston, “but he’s not (ready) yet.”

Nixon is scheduled to be evaluated Friday and play again Saturday. He played five innings in the field and didn’t talk with reporters before leaving the field.

“He wasn’t hurt,” Red Sox minor league infielder Tom Bawden said. “He just was upset with himself. He hasn’t had too many hits down here.”

In the fourth inning, Nixon made a sliding catch on a soft popup after misjudging it by taking two steps back. In the fifth, he went to the warning track and caught a fly ball against the wall. In his four at bats, Nixon popped out to the outfield twice, hit a slow infield dribbler and walked.

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Oakland’s previous season high was 11 runs on May 7 in a 13-inning win over Minnesota. … The teams combined for 75 hits in the three-game series. … Durazo had four hits for the third time in his career. … The 15 runs were the most against the Red Sox this season. On April 15 they lost to Baltimore 12-7 in 11 innings. … Oakland last scored 15 runs on Aug. 24 in a 17-2 win over Toronto.

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