BOSTON — With Josh Reddick entering the week as the hottest hitter around, the A’s right fielder is starting to get mentioned in trade rumors even earlier than expected.

Because Reddick is a free agent after the season and because negotiations on a long-term deal have not yielded results, Reddick is being linked to the two best teams in baseball, the Cubs and White Sox, by, among others, ESPN and the Boston Globe.

The Cubs lost outfielder Kyle Schwarber to a knee injury at the start of the season and their top baseball official, Theo Epstein, had Reddick in Boston. The White Sox are in the market for a left-handed hitter, and Reddick is batting .317. His franchise-record-tying streak of eight hits in eight at-bats ended with an RBI groundout in the first inning Monday. He also drove in a run with a two-out single in the ninth.

It isn’t a given that the A’s would move Reddick, of course. Vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane seldom mentions any players in connection with a potential contract extension but did say in the fall that Reddick would be a candidate for one.

In addition, if the team cannot re-sign Reddick long term, the A’s probably would give him a qualifying offer.

Briefly: Khris Davis ended a 0-for-13 streak with a shot into the seats above the Green Monster in left in the third inning. Davis, who smacked 27 homers in 392 at-bats last year, has homered seven times in his past 17 games. He added an RBI double in the ninth. ... Yonder Alonso doubled twice and has 100 for his career. ... Coco Crisp reached base four times and scored three runs. ... After taking a liner off his landing foot in the sixth, John Axford walked two men (his first walks of the season) and gave up a grand slam to Jackie Bradley Jr. ... Manager Bob Melvin said that left fielder-first baseman Mark Canha has some back tightness. ... Melvin will name a starter for Wednesday’s game on Tuesday; it’s expected to be left-hander Eric Surkamp.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

On deck

Tuesday

at Red Sox

4:10 p.m. CSNCA

Manaea (0-0)

vs. O’Sullivan (0-0)

Wednesday

at Red Sox

4:10 p.m. CSNCA

TBA

vs. Porcello (5-1)

Thursday

Off

Leading off

Great relief: Nine of the past 10 position players to pitch for the A’s have not allowed a run. That includes catcher Josh Phegley, who retired both Baltimore batters he faced Sunday. “Is that the new market inefficiency?” reliever Sean Doolittle joked.

— Susan Slusser