The Red Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the second inning as David Ortiz grounded out to first to start. Mike Cameron grounded out to short and Carl Crawford grounded out to second to end the inning. Hideki Matsui flied out to left to start the bottom of the second and Kurt Suzuki popped up to second. Mark Ellis doubled over the head of Crawford and moved to third on a passed ball, but Kevin Kouzmanoff struck out swinging to end the inning.
Anderson cruised in the top of the third as Jarrod Saltalmacchia grounded out to short to start. Darnell McDonald whiffed on a curveball down and in before Lowrie flied out to left to end the inning. Lackey cruised in the bottom of the third as Cliff Pennington grounded out to second to start. Crisp grounded out to short and Barton popped up to left to end the inning.
Pedroia walked to start but got picked off by Anderson. Sox manager Terry Francona came out to argue that it should have been a balk and was given the heave-ho by umpire Jim Reynolds. Gonzalez and Youkilis both struck out swinging to end the inning. What mayhem!
Lackey dominated the bottom of the fourth as DeJesus flied out to left to start. Willingham took strike three and Matsui struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt again in the top of the fifth as Ortiz grounded out to second to start. Cameron grounded out to third and Crawford grounded out to second to end the inning. Lackey did what he could in the bottom of the fifth as Suzuki popped up to short to start. Ellis walked and Kouzmanoff singled to left but Pennington popped up to short. Crisp grounded out to second to end the inning.
Saltalamacchia grounded back to the mound to start the top of the sixth before McDonald flied out to right. Lowrie struck out swinging to end the inning. Lackey returned for one last inning in the bottom of the sixth as Barton grounded out to second to start. DeJesus dropped a hit in front of Crawford but Willingham popped up to first. Matsui lined out to right to end the inning. Lackey pitched very well but got no run support, lasting 6 innings while allowing just the one run.
The Sox failed to pick up Lackey in the top of the seventh as Pedroia flied out to center to start. Gonzalez reached on a bobbled grounder to Anderson who threw the ball away for an error. Youkilis banged into a double play to end the inning. Dan Wheeler came in for the bottom of the seventh and cruised. Suzuki flied out to right before Ellis and Kouzmanoff both struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox blew their only rally in the top of the eighth as Ortiz singled through the shift to start. Jacoby Ellsbury pinch ran for Ortiz but was called out on batter's interference when Cameron got in the way of Suzuki after striking out. Ellsbury getting called out loomed large as Crawford and Saltalmacchia both got back to back base hits. The rally ended as McDonald struck out swinging to end the inning....why didn't JD Drew pinch hit? The bullpen fell apart in the bottom of the eighth as Wheeler gave up a leadoff double to center. Hideki Okajima made his season debut by crapping his pants, allowing Pennington to steal third. Crisp lined out to center but Barton dropped a base hit to center to score Pennington. DeJesus struck out looking but Willingham walked. Matsui reached into his Yankee past to double to right to score both runners and ice the game. That was it for Okajima as Alfredo Aceves came in to pitch and Suzuki singled to right to score Matsui to wrap up the scoring. Ellis hit a routine grounder to Youk but his throw pulled Pedroia off the bag for an error. Kouzmanoff grounded out to third to end the inning with the A's ahead 5-0.
Old buddy Craig Breslow came in to close out the top of the ninth and Lowrie grounded out to third to start. Pedroia walked and Gonzalez singled to left to chase Breslow. Brian Fuentes came in and Youkilis flied out to left. Ellsbury popped up to Pennington to end the game. The A's blanked the Red Sox 5-0.
Jackass of the Night is Hideki Okajima. He allowed an inherited runner to score and was charged with 3 of his own to put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Dustin Pedroia walked twice in four plate appearances.
Adrian Gonzalez was 2 for 4.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3.
Carl Crawford was 1 for 3.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 1 for 3.
One of the rate times the losing pitcher is on the Good list but John Lackey tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed just 4 hits and a walk while striking out 3.
The Bad:
Jed Lowrie was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Kevin Youkilis was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and an error.
Jacoby Ellsbury was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Darnell McDonald was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Mike Cameron was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Dan Wheeler was charged with a run in 1 plus innings.
Alfredo Aceves allowed an inherited runner to score in 1/3 of an inning.
Final Thoughts:
It seems like the Sox like to take 2 steps forward and a giant leap back so far this season. They drop their first 6 games but take two of 3 from the Yankees. They fall to 2-9 then take 3 out of 4 from the Blue Jays...only to fall flat on their face in Oakland tonight. The bats couldn't miss against the Jays but they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn tonight. Again, the Sox are way too loaded offensively to have too many games like this but this was BAD. Its sad to see Okajima's career go up in flames but he's clearly not the same pitcher he was in 07 and 08. Its one thing if he was young, but he was older even then. The Sox may need to cut him loose if he can't get back to 2009 form, let alone 07 or 08. Lackey finally looked good and the rotation has finally turned it around, its too bad the bullpen and bats let him down tonight. What can you do but tip your cap to Brett Anderson and say hey, ya got us. Francona getting tossed trying to protect his cribbage partner was pretty funny though. Its a shame the Sox lost because the Boston Celtics took Game 2 of their first round playoff series against the New York Knicks tonight. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow night against Oakland when Clay Buchholz (1-2) takes the hill against Gio Gonzalez of the A's. The game begins at 3:30 PM Eastern time at Oakland Coliseum.
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