Things went bad right from the start for A's starter Joe Boyle when Jarren Duran got a base hit to left to start. Duran took off for second and catcher Shea Langerliers threw the ball away to allow Jarren to go to third on the error. Both Rafael Devers and Trevor Story struck out swinging but Triston Casas grounded a base hit up the middle to score Duran. Tyler O'Neill grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Houck got the ball in the bottom of the first and Ryan Noda grounded out to second to start. JJ Bleday also grounded out to second but Zack Gelof singled in the hole at short. Seth Brown struck out swinging to end the inning.
The comedy of errors continued in the top of the second as Masataka Yoshida walked to start. Enmanuel Valdez hit a routine fly ball to center....dropped by Bleday for an error to move both runners into scoring position. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a fly ball to right and Lawrence Butler threw home.....only for Langerliers to muff the throw for another error to score both runners. Reese McGuire got a base hit to center and a wild pitch moved him to second. Duran singled in the hole at second to put runners at the corners and Jarren stole second. Devers walked to load the bases but Story flied out to right. Casas struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Brent Rooker struck out swinging to start the bottom of the second before Abraham Toro flied out to center. Langerliers struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox broke it open due to more circus like plays by the A's in the top of the third. O'Neill started with a base hit to center before Yoshida walked. Valdez hit a grounder to first and Noda tried to go to second but realized Yoshida would have been safe. He then threw to first but Boyle tried to catch it with his hand and missed it completely for an error to score O'Neill, moving both runners into scoring position. Rafaela hit a sac fly to score Yoshida and move Valdez to third but McGuire struck out swinging. Duran ripped a base hit to left to score Valdez and promptly stole second. Devers walked and Boyle had Duran picked off....if he didn't throw the ball away for another error. Story hit the exclamation point with a double to left to score both runners. That was it for Boyle who probably wanted to throttle half his own team and he was replaced by Kyle Muller. Casas grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-0.
Houck dominated the bottom of the third as Butler grounded out to second to start. Darell Hernaiz struck out swinging and Noda grounded out to first to end the inning.
O'Neill flied out to left to begin the top of the fourth before Yoshida grounded out to first. Valdez struck out swinging to end the inning. The A's threatened in the bottom of the fourth when Bleday doubled to right to start. Gelof grounded out to third and Bleday moved to third on a grounder to short by Brown. Rooker struck out swinging to end the inning.
Rafaela took strike three to begin the top of the fifth before McGuire watched strike three go by. Duran also struck out swinging to end the inning. Toro struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fifth before Langerliers took strike three. Butler grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox got another run in the top of the sixth as Devers flied out to center to begin. Story walked and Casas doubled to right to move Trevor to third. O'Neill was intentionally walked to load the bases and Yoshida hit a double play ball to Gelof....who bobbled it and could only get O'Neill on the force. Story scored and it won't be ruled an error but it should have been. Valdez flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-0.
Houck returned for one last inning in the bottom of the sixth and Hernaiz struck out swinging. Noda went down hacking but Bleday got a base hit to left. Gelof went down hacking to end the inning. Houck dominated the hapless A's, tossing 6 shutout innings only allowing 3 hits and striking out 10 batters on 83 pitches.
Rafaela struck out swinging to start the top of the seventh before McGuire flied out to left. Duran grounded out to short to end the inning. Chase Anderson made his Sox debut in the bottom of the seventh and Brown lined out to center to start. Rooker flied out to right and Toro took strike three to end the inning.
Tyler Nevin came in for Bleday to start the top of the eighth and Devers popped up to short to start. Story lined out to center and Bobby Dalbec pinch hit for Casas. Naturally Dalbec struck out swinging to end the inning. Wilyer Abreu came in for O'Neill in the bottom of the eighth and Langerliers flied out to center to begin. Butler struck out swinging and Hernaiz went down hacking to end the inning.
Michael Kelly came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Abreu walked to start. Yoshida forced Abreu at second and Valdez struck out swinging. Rafaela flied out to center to end the inning. Anderson returned for the bottom of the ninth and Noda singled to left to start. Noda moved to second on the grounder to second by Nevin before Gelof grounded out to third. Brown grounded out to third to end the game. The Sox had won it 9-0.
Hero of the Night is Tanner Houck. He tossed 6 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits while striking out 10.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 3 for 5 with an rbi, 2 runs scored and 3 stolen bases.
Triston Casas was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Tyler O'Neill was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Wyler Abreu walked in his only plate appearance.
Chase Anderson earned his first save with 3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Bobby Dalbec struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked twice and scored a run.
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but walked, knocked in two runs and scored a run.
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 3 but walked twice, drove in a run and scored twice.
Enmanuel Valdez was just 1 for 5 with 2 strikeouts but scored two runs.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 3 but drove in two runs.
Reese McGuire was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Final Thoughts:
Its a wonder if Houck and the Red Sox are actually good or if the A's are just that damn bad. Maybe its a bit of both because Tanner was absolutely dominant and Duran was stealing bases every time he got on. Even with all the errors they still got some clutch hits from Casas and Story which was desperately needed after their lackluster opening series against Seattle. All five Sox starters looked good once through the order but can they sustain this momentum? That remains to be seen. The A's may be hot garbage but the Sox need to beat up on bad teams whenever they can if they hope to make the playoffs this year. They may need only 85-89 wins to get that third wild card so taking advantage of Oakland is a must. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the A's and three wins overall tomorrow night when Brayan Bello (1-0, 3.60 ERA) takes on Alex Wood of Oakland. The game begins at 9:40 PM Eastern time at Oakland Coliseum.
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