By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: Dustin Pedroia comes into score for the Boston Red Sox is greeted by teammates against the Oakland Athletics on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND, Calif. — When the Oakland Athletics pitching staff sleeps, their dreams are haunted by the Boston Red Sox prolific offense. The Red Sox (75-59) posted their fourth double-digit run total against the A’s this season, trouncing the A’s 16-2. David Ortiz, playing in his final series at the Oakland Coliseum, knocked in three runs and third baseman Travis Shaw hit a three-run homer for the Sox as part of a four RBI night for the Sox. Billy Butler and Stephen Vogt knocked in runs for the Athletics (57-77). Starter Andrew Triggs left the game early for the A’s with an injury.

The Red Sox demolished the A’s in a three-game sweep at Fenway Park May 9-11, outscoring the A’s 40-15 over that span. Friday night was more of the same with the A’s struggling to find answers against a Boston line-up boasting five .300 hitters.

“They’re first in the league in runs, RBIs, on-base percentage, everything,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “You have to make quality pitches to them, keep guys off base and keep the ball down.”

Starter Andrew Triggs fared well in his first inning against the Red Sox, allowing an unearned run after Xander Bogaerts reached on a Marcus Semien error and scored on one of two Ortiz RBI singles. Triggs , a long reliever forced into starting due to injuries, would exit the game after the inning however suffering from what the A’s medical staffed deemed to be back tightness.

“He’s pitched well,” said Melvin. “He’s trying to make a name for himself in the rotation. We’ve left him in there for a reason, because he’s pitched well. Hopefully it’s not too long before he’s back.”

Zach Neal would step in for Triggs and managed to surrender just one unearned run over his next three innings, allowing the A’s to tie the game against Sox starter David Price. Price held a no-hitter heading into the bottom of the fourth but gave up back-to-back singles to Jake Smolinski and Danny Valencia to open the frame. Khris Davis popped out to first baseman Hanley Ramirez deep in foul territory moving Smolinski to third base. Butler then popped out to plate Smolinski. Stephen Vogt would rip a double to bring Davis around.

Price (14-8, 3.92) would allow just one more hit, going seven innings with seven strikeouts and three walks. While Price cruised, Neal would begin to struggle in the fifth, getting two outs before yielding a double to Xander Bogaerts. Ortiz singled Bogaerts home, then Mookie Betts reached base with a single. Hanley Ramirez knocked them both in with a ringing double to give Boston a three-run edge 5-2 and chase Neal (2-4, 5.33) from the game.

“For a while there we were in the game,” said Melvin. “We came back to tie it. Then they did what they do and we made some mistakes.”

Daniel Coulombe was greeted with a Travis Shaw RBI double to make it 6-2. He managed to escape the fifth inning, but the Sox rallied again in the sixth. Coulumbe would load the bases before walking in a run to make it 7-2. Ortiz would add a sacrifice fly off Coulumbe before he departed trailing 8-2 with one out in the sixth.

J.B. Wendelken struggled mightily in his mop-up performance, allowing an RBI single to Hanley Ramirez before coughing up Shaw’s three-run long ball for an 12-2 deficit.  The Sox would add three more runs in the top of the eighth and another in the top of the 9^th.

With rosters expanding on September 1^st, the A’s did little to add to their bullpen depth, only activating reliever Sean Doolittle from the disabled list while adding starter Daniel Mengden from Triple-A Nashville. Mengden is expected to take Sean Manaea’s turn in the rotation after the south paw suffered an injury in his last start. Mengden, last a member of the A’s rotation in July, allowed 23 earned runs in 23 innings pitched that month. He failed to pitch more than 5 1/3 innings during that stretch, a troubling sign for an A’s team in desperate need of a deep performance Saturday. Mengden will be opposed by the Major League wins leader Rick Porcello. The sinker baller seeks out win number 19 on the season.