A's Bomb Sox in Rain Shortened Game (4/23/13)

It was a bad night for Boston sports. The Boston Celtics lost Game 2 of their first round NBA playoff series to the New York Knicks and the Boston Red Sox got smacked around by the Oakland A's. Last night it was the Sox who danced all over the A's, tonight it was the complete opposite. Facing a guy who didn't want to be out there and a knuckleballer out of his element, the A's pounded out 13 hits and 13 runs in just 7 innings before the umpires showed mercy on the Sox by calling the game. The A's took game 2 of this 3 game set at Fenway Park.

                                                    "Aceves you suck!"

Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves (1-1) got the start and initially started out well. He struck out Coco Crisp to begin the top of the first inning. John Jaso lined out and Seth Smith looked at strike three to end the inning. Bartolo Colon got the start for Oakland and he dominated. Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino both flied out to left but Dustin Pedroia rolled one just past Colon for an infield single. Mike Napoli whiffed to end the inning.

The first signs of trouble started in the top of the second inning. Jed Lowrie flied out but Brandon Moss singled. Josh Donaldson walked but Josh Reddick flied out. Chris Young popped up to end the inning. The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the second inning. Daniel Nava flied out and both Will Middlebrooks and Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out to end the inning.

The A's exploded in the top of the third due to ineffectiveness and lousy defense. Eric Sogard walked, Crisp singled and Jaso walked to load the bases immediately. Smith walked to force home Sogard but Lowrie looked at strike three. Things unraveled when Moss singled home two runs and a balk was called on Aceves to advance the remaining runners to second and third. Donaldson scored Smith with a sac fly and Aceves goofed again. Napoli heroically fielded a grounder by Reddick but Aceves was late getting to the bag. The worst part was Aceves threw the ball up into the Red Sox radio booth for an error to score Moss. ANOTHER balk was called to move Reddick to third and he scored when Middlebrooks fielded a grounder and threw the ball into the NESN broadcast booth. Sogard grounded out but the incompetence had put the Sox in a 6-0 hole.

                                                             "This sucks"

The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the third. Jonny Gomes lined out, Stephen Drew flied out and Ellsbury struck out to end the inning.

Aceves returned for the top of the fourth and Sox manager John Farrell found out very quickly that he didn't want to be out there. Crisp grounded out but Jaso lashed a straight fastball for a double. Smith then crushed another straight fastball for a 2 run home run to put the game out of reach 8-0. Lowrie lashed another straight fastball for a single and Farrell had enough, pulling the disgruntled starter for 28 year old rookie knuckleballer Steven Wright. For someone to quit on the team like that is inexcusable.

                                               "Man, can't wait till Farrell pulls me"

Wright did manage to get Moss to bang into a double play to end the inning, whoopie. The incompetent Sox offense accomplished nothing in the bottom of the fourth with the weather getting colder and rainier as time went on. Victorino lined out and both Pedroia and Napoli grounded out to end the inning.

Wright returned for the fifth and was hammered, apparently he doesn't pitch well in rainy weather.  Donaldson singled but Reddick struck out. Both Young and Sogard walked to load the bases and Crisp doubled home Donaldson and Young. Jaso singled home the remaining runners and took second on a passed ball by Saltalamacchia. Jaso was erased on the force out by Smith and Lowrie flied out to end the inning with the A's ahead 12-0. The Sox mustered their only offense in the bottom of the fifth. Nava grounded out and Middlebrooks flied out but Saltalamacchia and Gomes hit back to back singles. That was it as Drew popped up to end the inning.

The A's got another one in the top of the 6th off Wright. Moss and Donaldson worked back to back walks and Reddick doubled home Moss. Young flied out, Sogard struck out and Chris Wells pinch hit for Crisp. Wells flied out to end the inning but the Raiders kicked the field goal to lead the Patriots 13-0.....uh, I mean the A's led the Red Sox 13-0. Ellsbury walked in the bottom of the 6th and moved to third on groundouts by Victorino and Pedroia. Napoli popped up to end the inning. 6 shut-out innings by Colon, where was this in 2008?

                                       Washed up at age 35 in 2008, ace at age 40 in 2013

Pedro Ciriaco took over for Pedroia and Mike Carp replaced Napoli in the batting order but was in left field with Nava moving to first base. Wright returned for another beating but actually weathered the storm so to speak. Jaso singled but Smith flied out. Lowrie struck out but Moss singled. Donaldson struck out to end the inning. He got rocked and rolled but Wright saved the bullpen for better days. He competed better than Aceves did, that's for sure.

                                   Not the ideal way to make your major league debut

Colon finished the night with a flurry, striking out Nava, Middlebrooks and Saltalamacchia in short order. Heavier rain came in and with the score a complete blowout, the umpires showed mercy and called the game. Technically this meant Bartolo Colon, the same guy who was washed up on the Red Sox 5 years ago, pitched a complete game 3 hit shut-out. The A's had won it 13-0, unreal.

Jackass of the Night is easy. Alfredo Aceves not only crapped himself, he refused to clean it up and grooved easily hittable fastballs until John Farrell had no choice but to pull him out. I don't think we'll be seeing Aceves again for a long time after a stunt like that.

                                                           Thanks for nothing Jackass


The Good:

Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 1 for 3.

Jonny Gomes was 1 for 2.



The Bad:

Shane Victorino was 0 for 3.

Mike Napoli was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Daniel Nava was also 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a throwing error.

Stephen Drew was 0 for 2

Steven Wright took a beating to save the rest of the Red Sox bullpen for better days. He was tagged for 5 runs off 6 hits and 4 walks in 3 2/3 innings.



The Ugly:

Jacoby Ellsbury was 0 for 2 but walked once.



Honorable Mention:

Pedro Ciriaco played second base in the top of the seventh.

Mike Carp played left field in the top of the seventh.



Final Thoughts:

Simply put the Red Sox did nothing wright in all facets of the game. They couldn't pitch, hit or defend at all and the 13-0 final reflected that. The stinkeroo put a damper on what was a pretty good April so far considering David Ortiz missed most of it. The good news is I don't think we'll be seeing Aceves for a while so hopefully the pitching staff can pull together without him. Hopefully the Royals game gave Allen Webster the confidence he needed to really be "The Chosen One" which would keep Aceves and John Lackey from stinking up the mound in the future. Tomorrow afternoon Jon Lester (3-0) goes one on one with Brett Anderson in Game 3 of the series at 4:05 PM.