Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck delivers against the Oakland A’s line up on Thu Jul 11, 2024 at Fenway Park in Boston in game three of the the three game series (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Thursday evening the Oakland A’s (35-60) got blasted by the Boston Red Sox (51-41) 7-0. Boston got three early runs and it snow-balled from there. They had three home runs in the third, fourth and six innings of the game and Oakland struggled offensively from the get-go. Oakland pitcher Luis Medina had an awful outing and the A’s came out of this game with only four hits.

Game recap: This game got off to a rocky start for Oakland giving up three runs in the first inning. Masataka Yoshida singled two runners home, Jarren Duran and David Hamilton for a 2-0 lead. Wilyer Abreu came to the plate and doubled giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead as Connor Wong came home from third base. It was not the way that Oakland had envisioned the start of this game and it really went sideways as this game progressed.

Boston hit three home runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings taking a 7-0 lead which turned out to the be the final in this game. Connor Wong homered in the third, a solo shot. In the fourth inning another solo off the bat of Wilyer Abreu and to finish it off, Masataka Yoshida hit a a 2-run homer for the final score of 7-0. The A’s only managed four hits in the game and the Red Sox had ten hits making every one of them count.

It was a rough outing for Oakland pitcher Luis Medina who gave up seven hits, seven runs, two walks with seven strikeouts through five innings. Michel Otanez relieved Medina in the sixth inning allowing two hits and another run. This game was a tough one for the A’s anyway you look at it. There would be no home runs for the A’s in this game.

The Red Sox all-star pitcher Tanner Houck contained the Oakland offense. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning striking out six batters in a great outing for Boston. The A’s only had two hits through six innings. Boston is on a roll winning their last eight games out of ten and they have won five of six against Oakland.

The A’s got into deep trouble in the first inning falling behind 3-0 and it just snowballed from there. They could not get much offense going at all. The Red Sox jumped all over them offensively from first pitch and never let up.

Game notes: Thursday evening the A’s lost to the Red Sox in the rubber match of their series in a 7-0 shutout.. Oakland won Wednesday night’s matchup 5-2 and dropped the rubber game. They won a game two in their last series with the Baltimore Orioles but just could not finish that series with a win.

The A’s have been able to win games off some very good teams but have fallen short winning series. They create a lot of momentum in single games but cannot piece that momentum together to finish with any series wins. Thursday night they couldn’t get over the hurdle getting shutout by the Red Sox starter Tanner Houck and the Boston relief staff.. Luis Medina took the mound for the A’s and giving up seven hits and six earned runs.

It does not get any easier for the A’s in their next matchup as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the best team in baseball right now, the Phillies. Hogan Harris will be the probable pitcher for Oakland in Friday’s game. He has a 1-3 win/loss record and a 3.22 ERA. Philly will more than likely send a good one in Ranger Suarez who comes into this game with a10-3 win/loss record and an outstanding 2.58 ERA.