Category: Oakland Athletics

Tony Kemp (5) and Seth Brown (15) and Oakland A’s players celebrate their win over the Boston Red Sox to avoid getting swept at Fenway Park in Boston on Thu Jun 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s were able to finish off the disastrous nine-game road trip with a win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday afternoon. It wasn’t easy, as the A’s know the Red Sox offense can erupt at any time, but they were able to hold on to beat Boston 4-3.

The A’s starter Paul Blackburn pitched very well for the A’s on Thursday. Blackburn went five and a third innings to win his sixth game. He allowed one run and eight hits. Blackburn walked two hitters and struck out four. He left the game with the A’s in the lead 4-1. The A’s bullpen did not cave when Boston scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Here’s how the game went. Oakland scored three runs in the top of the third. With one out, centerfielder Cristian Pache doubled when Boston’s second baseman Trevor Story misjudged the ball, and it fell in safely.

Chad Pinder singled to drive in Pache with the A’s first run. Ramon Laureano followed with a double to deep right-center-field. A’s catcher, Christian Bethancourt, who has been swinging a hot bat, singled to drive in both runners.

The A’s led 3-0 midway through the third inning. The Sox got one back in their half of the third. Rafael Devers walked to start the inning. J.D.Martinez singled. Devers went to third on an error and scored on Xander Bogaerts ground-out. The A’s lead 3-1 after three.

With two out in the top of the seventh, Seth Brown singled. Brown went to second on a passed ball. Brown scored on Devers’ fielding error. The A’s led 4-1.

The Red Sox scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth. The A’s had lefty Sam Moll on the hill to work the eighth. Rob Refsnyder, pinch-hitting for Franchy Cordero, singled. Christian Vasquez walked to give Boston two men on and no out.

Moll retired Jackie Bradley, Jr. for the first out. Bobby Dalbec was out on a fly ball to centerfield. Rafael Devers reached on third baseman Jonah Bride’s throwing error. Vasquez advanced to third on the play. A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought in closer Dany Jiminez to pitch. J.D.Martinez drove in Vasquez with an infield hit. Jiminez got out of the jam by retiring Xander Bogaerts. The A’s led 4-3. 

Jimenez set the Red Sox down 1-2-3 in the ninth to preserve the win for the A’s. 

Game Notes: The A’s ended the road trip with two wins and even losses. They are 3-16 in their last 19 games. The A’s, for the season, are 22-43 and are in last place in the AL West. Boston drops to 34-30.

Blackburn threw 98 pitches, 61 for strikes. His record is now 6-2. Dany Jiminez earned his 11th save.

The line score for Oakland was four runs, eight hits, and two errors. Boston’s line was three runs, eleven hits, and one error. Boston won the season series with Oakland five games to one.

The A’s return home to face the Kansas City Royals for three games starting Friday night. The Royals have no announced a starter and Frankie Montas (3-6, 3.40) will go for Oakland.

Boston Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo gets congratulations from first base coach Ramon Vazquez (84) after going yard for a two run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning at Fenway Park in Boston on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 The Oakland A’s (21-43) were crushed in a 10-1 laugher at Fenway Park in the third game of this four game series. Jonah Bride who was called up Tuesday got two hits on Wednesday and Matt Davidson had a pinch hit home in the sixth inning for the A’s.

#2 The Boston Red Sox (34-29) kept pouring it on and got lots of help from slugger Rafael Devers who hit for his fourth consecutive game home run.

#3 The A’s just couldn’t get any traction on this road trip and A’s manager Mark Kotsay said A’s starter James Kaprielian has had some good outings but in this loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday Kaprielian will just have to forget about this one and move on.

#4 Oakland A’s pinch hitter Matt Davidson hit a top of the sixth inning home run off Red Sox reliever and former A’s pitcher Jake Diekman which ended Boston’s shutout.

#5 The A’s conclude this ten game road trip starting with Paul Blackburn (5-2, 2.31) for the Red Sox Rich Hill (2-3, 4.38) a 10:38 AM PDT first pitch at Fenway Park.

Join Jerry for the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The Boston Red Sox Rafael Devers hits a second inning two run home run as Oakland A’s catcher Sean Murphy can only watch at Fenway Park in Boston on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

For the first four innings of the game Wednesday between the A’s and the Red Sox, it was deja vu once more. The Red Sox tallied six runs in the first four innings, just as they did Tuesday night. Last night, they failed to score after the fourth inning. They scored four more times tonight to trounce the hapless Oakland A’s 10-1. 

James Kaprielian started for the A’s. Kaprielian pitched well in his last outing, and the A’s hoped Kaprielian would continue to pitch well. James had trouble with his command. In his three and 2/3rds innings of work, he threw 94 pitches; 48 were strikes.

He walked six batters and gave up seven hits and six runs. Reliever Domingo Acevedo was tagged for a two-run dinger off the bat of Alex Verdugo in the sixth inning. Lou Trivino had another rough night, giving up four hits and two runs in the eighth.

Boston grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With one out, Kaprielian walked Rafael Devers and J.D.Martinez. Xander Bogaerts singled to load the bases. Kaprielian retired Alex Verdugo on a ground to second.

Devers scored on the play. The Sox lead 1-0. The Red Sox increased the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second. With two out and a man at first, Devers sent a line drive into the bullpen in right field for his 16th home run. The exit velocity was a smoking-hot 113 miles-per-hour. It was the fourth game in a row that Devers had homered.

The Sox plated their fourth run in the bottom of the third. Bogaerts led off the inning with a fly ball that scraped the Green Monster in left field that was good for a double. Verdugo singled to drive Bogaerts in with the run. 

Kaprielian, normally a pitcher with good control, walked Jarren Duran and Devers to start the fourth inning. J.D.Martinez was retired on a fly ball to right field. Duran tagged and went to third. Bogaerts drove in Duran with a sacrifice fly to right.

Verdugo singled, sending Devers to third. Sox second baseman Trevor Story hit a swinging bun up the third baseline. Kaprielian fielded the ball, but his throw got by A’s first baseman Christian Bethancourt. Devers scored on the play. Boston owned a commanding 6-0 advantage after four innings of play.

The A’s scored their only run of the night in the sixth. Matt Davidson, pinch-hitting for Stephen Vogt, sent former A’s pitcher Jake Diekman’s pitch over the Green Monster onto Lansdowne Street. The Red Sox answered with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Alex Verdugo sent homered with a man on to make it an 8-1 lead for Boston.

The Sox added two more in the eighth. Lou Trivino retired the first man he faced. He then gave up back-to-back doubles to Martinez and Bogaerts for Boston’s ninth run. Two more singles produced the final run of the game. Boston wins 10-1.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 21-43. Boston improved to 34-29. 

The A’s have lost 16 of the last 18 games played. They play Boston Again Thursday afternoon. The Red Sox have won all five games between the teams this year.

Kaprielian took the loss and is 0-4. Red Sox starter Josh Winckowski notched his first win in Major League baseball. His record is 1-1.

The bright spots for Oakland were Matt Davidson’s monster home run and Jonah Bride’s first two hits in the Majors. 

Oakland’s line was one run, seven hits, and one error. Boston’s line was ten runs, thirteen hits, and no errors. 

The teams meet for the final time in 2022 at 10:35 am PT. The A’s will send Paul Blackburn out to pitch. The Red Sox will counter with former A’s hurler, lefty Rich Hill.

The time of the game was three hours and eight minutes. Thirty-one thousand eight hundred seventy-seven fans were on hand to see Boston romp to the lop-sided 10-1 victory.

Oakland Athletics pitching coach Scott Emerson (14), left, talks with Jared Koenig (46) as catcher Sean Murphy (12) listens in during the second inning at Fenway Park in Boston in the first game of a three game series against the Boston Red Sox on Tue Jun 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (21-42) road woes continued as they fell to the Boston Red Sox (33-29) 6-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. The A’s sent rookie lefty Jared Koenig to the mound the face the potent Red Sox lineup.

After making his second big league start, Koenig had the misfortune of going against the World Champion Atlanta Braves last week. As baseball fans know, left-handed pitchers dread pitching in Fenway Park. Pitchers know they will succeed if they keep their pitches down and away from the powerful right-handed hitters in Boston’s lineup. 

The Red Sox scored runs in the first four innings of the game. In the first inning, with one out and Rafael Devers at first base, Koenig walked J.D.Martinez. Koening committed a balk, and the runners advanced to second and third. Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit a broken-bat single into short right-field. Devers scored to give Boston an early 1-0 lead.

The Sox plated their second run in the bottom of the second. With one out, Boston loaded the bases. Singles by Christian Vasquez and Bobby Dalbec were followed by Koenig hitting Franchy Cordero. Leadoff hitter Rob Ryfsnyder, filling in at center field for the injured Kike Hernandez, drove in Vazquez with a sacrifice fly. The score after two complete was 2-0 Boston on top.

Boston put their third run of the night on the board when slugger J.D. Martinez homered leading off the bottom of the third. It was Martinez’s eighth dinger of the year. 

Jared Koenig’s night ended in the fourth. Singles by Franchy Cordero and Rob Ryfsnyder put two men on with no out. Boston’s third baseman, Rafael Devers, one of the top hitters in the American League, blasted a 439-foot home run over the bullpen in right-center-field to give Boston a commanding 6-0 after four complete.

Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta stymied the A’s offense. Pivetta’s only mistake was a gopher ball served up to A’s DH Stephen Vogt in the eighth inning. Pivetta’s line was eight innings of work, and he allowed one run and three hits to earn his sixth win of the year. The Red Sox win 6-1.

Game Notes: The A’s are now 21-42 for the season. They have lost 15 of the last 17 played and now own the worst record in the American League.

The A’s and the Cincinnati Reds are racing to the bottom of the barrel. The A’s are 1-6 on the nine-game road trip and have two more games with Boston before returning home to face the Kansas City Royals Friday night at the Coliseum.

The line score for Oakland was one run, four hits, and one error. Boston’s line was six runs, ten hits, and no errors. 

Pivetta was the winning pitcher. Koenig took the loss and is now 0-2.

 Adam Oller, Lou Trivino, and Austin Pruitt pitched well in relief. The bullpen held the Sox scoreless after the fourth inning. A’s manager Mark Kotsay had to be pleased with Trivino’s outing. Trivino worked an inning and stuck out two.

The A’s will send James Kaprielian (0-3, 5.73) out to face Boston Wednesday night. The Red Sox will start righthander Josh Winckowski (0-1, 12.00) . The game will start at 4:10 pm Pacific Time. 

The time of the game was 2:43 minutes. There were 32,617 fans in attendance