Today's Boston Red Sox game was like watching someone walking a tightrope 50 feet in the air that's on fire and being chased by Jason Voorhees...and still escaping. The Sox were held to just one run, they committed two official errors with two un-official blunders and couldn't get a clutch hit to save their lives, and still beat the Oakland A's. Nick Pivetta (1-1, 0.82 ERA) tossed five shutout innings to earn his first win of the season before the red hot Sox bullpen slammed the door on the A's. Joely Rodriguez, Justin Slaten and Chris Martin bridged the gap before the A's rallied in the ninth. Kenley Jansen overcame some errors to earn the save as the Sox swept the hapless A's out of Oakland, 1-0 at Oakland Coliseum.
A's starter Ross Stripling got the ball in the top of the first and Jarren Duran led off with a base hit to left to start. Rafael Devers forced him at second and got doubled off first on a line drive to short by Trevor Story to end the inning. Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first and Ryan Noda flied out to right to begin. Zack Gelof grounded out to short but JJ Bleday dumped a base hit to center....booted by Rafaela for an error to advance Bleday to second. Rafaela ran down a liner by JD Davis to end the inning.
Triston Casas flied out to center to open the top of the second before Masataka Yoshida flied out to left. Rafaela popped up to Gelof to end the inning. Seth Brown lined out to center to start the bottom of the second before Brent Rooker struck out swinging. Kyle McCann walked but Tyler Nevin forced McCann at second to end the inning.
Enmanuel Valdez struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Reese McGuire took strike three. Wilyer Abreu singled to right and Duran lined one off the glove of Davis for a "single", but Devers grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Nick Allen flied out to left to start the bottom of the third before Noda flied out to left. Gelof struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the fourth although Story struck out swinging to start. Casas and Yoshida got back to back base hits to left and Rafaela blooped a single to center to load the bases. Valdez hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Casas with the go-ahead run. McGuire flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Bleday grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fourth but Davis doubled to center. Brown struck out swinging and Rafaela made a great jumping catch at the wall on a Rooker line drive to end the inning.
Great catch by Rafaela
Abreu flied out to left to start the top of the fifth but Duran got base hit to left. Devers grounded into a double play to end the inning. McCann grounded out to first to start the bottom of the fifth but Nevin singled to right. Allen singled to left and Noa hit a roller to Pivetta to load the bases. Gelof banged into a double play to end the inning for a fired up Pivetta. He tossed 5 shutout innings allowing 3 hits and a walk.
Pivetta liked that one
Story hit one up the elevator shaft to start the top of the sixth before Casas grounded out to second. Yoshida grounded out to short to end the inning. Joely Rodriguez came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Bleday grounded out to second to start. Davis also grounded out to second but Brown ripped a base hit to left to chase Joely. Justin Slaten came in and Rooker grounded out to second to end the inning.
Rafaela grounded out to third to start the top of the seventh but Valdez got a base hit to center. McGuire grounded into a double play to end the inning. McCann grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the seventh and Lawrence Butler pinch hit for Nevin. Butler flied out to left and Allen grounded out to second to end the inning.
TJ McFarland came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Abreu grounded back to the mound to start. Duran got his fourth hit of the day with a single to left and Devers doubled down the left field line. Story was intentionally walked and Casas grounded into a double play to end the inning. Chris Martin came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Noda grounded out to first to start. Gelof singled to center and Bleday hit a routine grounder to Story. He stepped on second and then threw the ball completely out of the park for an error to move Bleday to second. Davis hit a roller to the mound to put runners at the corners and Darrell Hernaiz ran for Davis. Brown struck out swinging to end the inning.
Michael Kelly came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Yoshida took strike three to start. Rafaela's bunt attempt to Kelly was snuffed out and Valdez struck out swinging to end the inning. Kenley Jansen came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Rooker flied out to cente rto start. Shea Langeliers pinch hit for McCann and walked before Butler walked as well. Abraham Toro pinch hit for Allen and hit a double play ball to Story. Trevor flipped to Valdez who then stood there and stared off into space to allow the runner to reach first. With the game on the line....Noda struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 1-0.
Hero of The Night is Nick Pivetta. He put the Sox in a position to win with 5 shutout innings on a day the offense did nothing. He allowed 3 hits and a walk.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 4 for 4.
Enmanuel Valdez was 1 for 3 with the only rbi.
Wilyer Abreu was 1 for 3.
Joely Rodriguez got the first two batters of the sixth inning.
Justin Slaten tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Chris Martin pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Kenley Jansen earned his second save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Reese McGuire was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4.
Trevor Story was 0 for 3 with a strikeout and an error but walked.
Triston Casas was just 1 for 4 but scored the game's only run.
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 4 with an error.
Final Thoughts:
It wasn't pretty but they won. For a team everyone picked to finish last, the Sox need to win every game they can. The first game the A's made all the errors and today it was Boston, but the Sox won both games. Pivetta was outstanding and hats off to the bullpen again for another 4 shutout innings. The only complaints about the game was the lack of offense against a bad A's team, the frightening amount of errors (and plays that weren't made) and Cora once again relying on his bullpen to throw four innings. Its too early in the season to have the starters throw 7 innings and 100 pitches but at least if they look like they're still dealing, why not leave them in to go 6 or get to 90 pitches? The Sox bullpen was lights out from April to June of 2021 but fell apart from overuse. Hopefully Cora's learned from that and the starters can go deep into games. The Sox may have faced a bad team but they swept all three games heading into the off-day tomorrow. The Sox continue the road trip Friday night in Anaheim in a three game set with the Angels. Kutter Crawford (0-0, 0.00 ERA) takes on Griffin Canning of Los Angeles. the game starts at 9:30 PM Eastern time at Angel Stadium.
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