OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Terry Francona would rather be playing anywhere other than Oakland right now.

The Boston Red Sox manager worked as the bench coach for the Athletics last season, and still has many friends in the other clubhouse – and during a September pennant race, he just can’t deal with any personal distractions.

“I have to ignore it,” Francona said Monday before Boston began a three-game series against the AL West-leading A’s.

Francona and Oakland manager Ken Macha often leave phone messages for each other and have spoken several times this season. But by the sound of it, Francona will keep the socializing to a minimum the next few days.

Boston just completed a 9-1 homestand and has taken five of the first six from Oakland so far this season. The Red Sox eliminated Oakland in five games in the AL division series last fall – the A’s fourth straight first-round exit.

“I’d rather be playing somebody else,” Francona said. “I know their home record. These are important games for us. We need to bang out wins as much as we can, and this isn’t the easiest place to do it.”

The Red Sox began the day 2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East, having gained three games on New York during the homestand and improved their wild-card lead to 3 games over Anaheim. Boston has won 17 of its last 19 games and six straight season series. The team plays 17 of its last 27 games on the road – and the final 20 against the division.

Francona has been impressed with his team’s attitude during this successful stretch. While some teams on streaks may tend to lose focus and expect wins to come easy, the Red Sox have been the opposite, he said.

“I see our team grow with it and get hungry,” Francona said. “There’s no sense of contentment.”

And the skipper gives catcher Jason Varitek much of the credit for that.

Varitek makes an effort to quickly tell a teammate he appreciates a sacrifice bunt or a hustle play.

“We have that attitude that you have to have to win ballgames over the long haul,” Varitek said. “All of us know that and continue to talk about it. I compliment guys when they do the little things, and our whole team is like that.”

Still, everyone around the Red Sox realizes this is an exciting and important stretch.

“This is going to be fun, and we respect that,” Francona said. “We’re feeling good about ourselves, but if we don’t play good, they’re going to beat us.”