by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–The A’s dropped their seventh game in eight games to the Boston Red Sox 2-0 on Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum. If I’m A’s pitcher Sonny Gray I’m slapping my hitters silly. At one point in that game the A’s were 0-13 with runners in scoring position they made 13 outs with runners in scoring position and that was through six innings.

Three of the five outs that the A’s made weren’t with runners in scoring position they led off the inning. So basically the A’s spent the whole day leaving runners on and not getting them home. Gray pitched very well but there was no reason to allow him to finish the game. With the A’s misfortune and no run support their not going to risk Gray.

The Red Sox starter Wade Miley was very efficient he was effective with the curve ball and he had nine strike outs he was getting guys looking and he was getting guys swinging. Miley had the A’s off stride all day. The Sox first run came on a bloop hit that just hit no mans land in the Burmuda Triangle in left field and of course it happened with two outs and it wouldn’t have to come any other time but with two outs and that’s when it had to come.

San Francisco Giants update: The first game against the Houston Astros on Tuesday night of the series the Giants scored three runs in the second and five runs in the fifth first time they did that all year. It’s beginning to become a very interesting tine for Giants third baseman Casey McGehee too because it’s going to be progressively more and more difficult to keep the bat away from Matt Duffy not to mention out of the line up.

The Astros who came into Tuesday night’s game with a five game lead in the American League West got totally throttled and their not used to seeing that kind of hitting against them. They also saw a virtuoso performance by a young pitcher Chris Heston who got to throw a two hitter for a 2-1 win for the Giants.

The story flipped on Wednesday night as the Astros who were trailing the Giants at one point in the game by two runs 3-1. Giants pitcher Tim Hudson lost command of that lead in the sixth inning when the Astros tied up the ball game 3-3 when Houston’s Luis Valbuena belted a 385 foot homer to deep right center off Hudson. The relief staff couldn’t hold the lead when the Astros George Springer in the eighth ripped one to deep left center to give the Astros the lead and win 4-3.

Michael Duca does weekly commentary on the A’s and Giants each week at http://www.sportradioservice.com listen to the podcast below