Happy 4th of July everyone! After last night's disaster the Boston Red Sox needed a lift big time from starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (7-3, 4.09 ERA) and they got it. Pivetta spun a beauty, allowing just 2 hits and no runs against the Oakland A's in 7 dominating innings. Oakland starter James Kaprielian was just as tough, allowing just 1 run in 7 innings. The only run Boston scored was when Rafael Devers hit into a double play to score Alex Verdugo. Sox manager Alex Cora called upon The A-Team to close out the game and they did. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock and Matt Barnes slammed the door as the Sox barely beat the A's 1-0 at Oakland Coliseum.
Kaprielian got the ball in the top of the first and Kike Hernandez grounded out to short to start. Alex Verdugo walked but JD Martinez struck out swinging. Rafael Devers flied out to left to end the inning. Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first and Tony Kemp struck out swinging to start. Elvis Andrus struck out swinging but Matt Olson walked. Matt Chapman singled to left but "Glassbones" Jed Lowrie struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the top of the second as Christian Vazquez struck out swinging to start. Marwin Gonzalez went down hacking and Danny Santana grounded out to first to end the inning. Pivetta cruised in the bottom of the second inning as "Razor" Ramon Laureano popped up to first to start. Seth Brown flied out to center and Chad Pinder struck out swinging to end the inning.
Bobby Dalbec flied out to right to start the top of the third before Michael Chavis struck out swinging. Hernandez singled to left and Verdugo doubled to center. Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning. Aramis Garcia flied out to center to begin the bottom of the third before Kemp struck out swinging. Andrus flied out to center to end the inning.
Kaprielian cruised in the top of the fourth as Devers grounded out to short to start. Andrus booted a grounder by Vazquez but Gonzalez struck out swinging. Santana flied out to right to end the inning. Pivetta matched Kaprielian in the bottom of the fourth as Olson flied out to right to start. Chapman hit one up the elevator shaft before Lowrie took strike three to end the inning.
Dalbec struck out swinging to begin the top of the fifth before Chavis went down hacking. Hernandez popped up to first to end the inning. Laureano struck out swinging to begin the bottom of fifth before Brown took strike three. Pinder grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox tried to rally in the top of the sixth as Verdugo doubled to left to start. Martinez lined a base hit to left to put runners at the corners and naturally Devers banged into a double play, scoring Verdugo. Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Pivetta kept up the pace in the bottom of the sixth as Garcia took strike three to start. Kemp singled to right but Andrus hit one up the elevator shaft. Olson struck out swinging to end the inning.
Gonzalez struck out swinging to earn the hat trick to start the top of the seventh before Santana also went down hacking. Dalbec singled to right but Chavis earned the hat trick with a swinging strikeout to end the inning. Chapman grounded out to short to start the bottom of the seventh before Lowrie flied out to right. Laureano walked and stole second but Brown flied out to center to end the inning. That was it for Pivetta who pitched 7 shutout innings and allowed just 2 hits.
Yusmeiro Petit came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Hernandez grounded out to second to start. Verdugo flied out to center and Martinez lined out to second to end the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in for the bottom of the eighth and Pinder grounded out to third. Sean Murphy pinch hit for Garcia and singled to right before taking second on a wild pitch. Kemp popped up to third and Andrus popped up to second to end the inning.
Deolis Guerra came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Devers doubled to right to start. The rally ended as Vazquez flied out to right and Gonzalez struck out swinging. Sergio Romo came in to pitch to Santana lined out to left to end the inning. Matt Barnes came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and almost crapped his pants. Olson singled to right to start and Skye Bolt pinch ran for him. Chapman popped up to third but Bolt stole second and Lowrie walked. Laureano beat out a double play ball to put the tying run at third but Brown struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had narrowly escaped with a 1-0 win.
Hero of the Night is Nick Pivetta. He tossed 7 shutout innings while allowing just 2 runs to earn the win.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Bobby Dalbec was 1 for 3.
Garrett Whitlock pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Matt Barnes earned his 19th save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 4 with a golden sombrero of 4 strikeouts.
Danny Santana was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Michael Chavis was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 4.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
As frustrating as the last four games were, the Sox still took 3 out of 4 on the road against a good team. The A's are very tough, they don't give up and they pitch very well. The Sox bats accomplished almost nothing the last few days and still managed to grind out a few wins. You can look at this game as sacrificing last night for today's win with Whitlock and Barnes available but still, if Cora didn't take out Garrett Richards at the first sign of trouble last night, the Sox win that game easily. This game was a complete grinder and the Sox offense again was held to just 6 hits. Xander Bogaerts sad this one out and the offense was UGLYYYYYY. At this point the bottom of the order is on borrowed time. The question is not if, but when Christian Arroyo comes back from injury and Jarren Duran is promoted from Worcester. Santana, Chavis and Gonzalez had their chance but the Sox aren't going to be able to afford a black hole in the bottom of the order in the second half of the season when a shot at October baseball is on the line. The talk around town is what the Sox are going to do at the trade deadline. Obviously they need an experienced bat off the bench and possibly another starter if Richards or Nathan Eovaldi takes their yearly vacation. Luckily the David McCarty/Doug Mientkiewicz/Rico Brogna type of player they need won't cost much but they could need to jettison one of their coveted prospects if they want another starter in case Chris Sale can't come back or someone else gets hurt. Still, that's all down the road. As of now the Sox are miles ahead of the fading New York Yankees and need to keep winning to hold off Tampa. Winning 9 of 10 helps with that big time. The win improved the Sox to 53-32, 4.5 games in front of the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox not travel to Anaheim to play the LA Angels in a 3 game set. Martin Perez (6-4, 4.04 ERA) goes for the Sox up against Jose Suarez of the Angels. The game begins at 9:30 PM Eastern time at Angel Stadium.
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