Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Blake Treinen, right, celebrates with catcher Bruce Maxwell after the A’s defeatedthe Boston Red Sox 7-3 in a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Boston- The A’s evened the series with the Red Sox as they ambushed Red Sox starter, Doug Fister in the very first inning on their way to a 7-3 victory. Fister, in his last three outings, had given up one or two runs in the first inning. In those games, he was able to right the ship and pick up the win. That did not happen Wednesday night in Beantown. It was a tough loss for the Muddy River boys as their hated rivals, the New York Yankees, beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 and picked up a game in the race for the AL East crown.

The A’s scored four times in the first inning. Jed Lowrie drove in a run with his second triple of the series. Lowrie was the Sox’ shortstop when he broke into the lineup in 2008 and was with Boston for five seasons. His triple drove in Marcus Semien with the first run of the game and Jed scored when Khris Davis singled to center. A’s first baseman, Matt Olson, who is wowing everyone with his fielding and bat, hit his eighteenth dinger of the year to up the score to 4-0. Boston scored a run in the bottom of the first to make it 4-1.

The A’s plated two more in the third inning. Jed Lowrie doubled to drive in MAtt Joyce with the A’s fifth run. Lowrie scored on a fielder’s choice.  The Sox scored a run in their half of the third, but the A’s still led by four. 6-2 after three innings of play.

The Red Sox’ Jackie Bradley, Jr hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. The A’s got the run back in the sixth. There was no more scoring, and the A’s bullpen did their job as they limited Boston to just three hits and no runs the rest of the way. The A’s win 7-3.

Game Notes- The A’s Jharel Cotton, who received support from the offense, won his eighth of the year and is now 8-10. He went five innings and allowed six hits and three runs. Bradley tagged him for a solo home run and giving up home runs has been the bane for Cotton this year. A’s manager Bob Melvin used five relievers to finish the game.

With the loss and the Yankee win, Boston’s lead over New York shrunk to just three games with seventeen left to play. Dustin Pedroia and Bradley, Jr. were the hitting starts for Boston. Pedroia had three hits, and Bradley smoked his sixteenth big fly of the year.

Game three of the series will be played Thursday at 10:30 am. Daniel Gossett will be making his first start ever against Boston and will be opposed by lefty Drew Pomeranz who is a former Athletic and would love nothing more than beating his old team.