The bad news was the Boston Celtics were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of their first round NBA playoff series but the good news was the Boston Red Sox defeated the Oakland A's. Its another eight game win streak for the Sox. This time it was the shutdown Boston bullpen, Jackie Bradley Jr and Mitch Moreland that guided the Sox past the Oakland A's. The Sox fell behind 3-0 when Pomeranz faltered in his season debut but JBJ tied it up with a 3 run bomb. Later Moreland smacked a grand salami to give the Sox a 7-3 win over the A's at Oakland Coliseum. Yes, once again that's 8 in a row.
Mookie Betts greeted Oakland starter Kendall Graveman by grounding out to second to open the top of the first. Andrew Benintendi whiffed but Hanley Ramirez singled....only to be foolishly thrown out second trying to steal to end the inning. Pomeranz made his season debut by completely crapping his pants in the bottom of the first inning. Marcus Semien grounded out to first but Stephen Piscotty walked. Old friend "Glassbones" Jed Lowrie doubled in Piscotty to give the A's the lead. Khris Davis whiffed and so did Matt Chapman to end the inning....OH NO HE DIDN'T! Catcher Christian Vazquez muffed the pitch and Chapman ended up on first with Jed at third. Matt Olson made Vazquez pay with a single to score Lowrie and Mark Canha singled in Chapman for another run. Chad Pinder blasted one into orbit but it was ruled foul on the replay. That saved the game as Pinder froze for strike three to end the inning with the A's up 3-0.
The Sox wasted no time getting back in the game in the top of the second inning. Mitch Moreland whiffed but Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez stroked back to back singles. Jackie Bradley Jr stepped up by swatting a 3 run bomb to center to tie the game. Vazquez grounded out to first and Brock Holt grounded out to short to end the inning but it was now 3-3.
Pomeranz settled down in the bottom of the second as he got Jonathan Lucroy to fly out to right to start. Semien walked but Piscotty flied out to left. Lowrie singled but Davis whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the third inning as Betts lined out to third to start. Benintendi and Ramirez both whiffed to end the inning. Pomeranz matched Graveman in the bottom of the third, freezing Chapman for strike three to start. Olson whiffed and Canha watched strike three go by to end the inning.
Nothing doing for the Sox in the top of the fourth as Moreland grounded out to short to begin. Devers lined out to left and Nunez whiffed to end the inning. The A's threatened to take the lead when Pinder doubled to open the bottom of the fourth but Lucroy flied out to center. Semien lined out to left and that was it for Pomeranz. Sox manager Alex Cora wanted him to throw 85-90 pitches and he was up to 88. He looked pretty rusty in the beginning but turned it on after the first inning for what its worth.
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez (3-0, 2.70 ERA) took over for the Sox and got Piscotty to line out to short to end the inning.
Graveman cruised in the top of the fifth as JBJ grounded out to first to start. Vazquez whiffed and Holt grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The pain in the ass Lowrie singled to open the bottom of the fifth but Davis banged into a double play. Chapman singled but Olson lined out to a running JBJ to end the inning.
The Sox took control quickly in the top of the sixth inning. Betts, Benintendi and Ramirez stroked back to back to back singles to load the bases and chase Graveman. Emilio Pagan replaced him and Moreland greeted him by blasting a grand slam to put the Sox up for good. Devers lined out to right but Nunez doubled. JBJ flied out to left and Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-3.
More than enough cushion for Velazquez in the bottom of the sixth inning. Canha lined out to center and Pinder grounded out to short, but Lucroy singled. Semien flied out to right to end the inning.
There would be no more scoring in the top of the seventh with Josh Lucas now on the mound. Holt singled but Betts bounced into a double play. Benintendi flied out to left to end the inning. Piscotty grounded out to third to begin the bottom of the seventh but Lowrie doubled as usual. Davis was hit with a pitch but Chapman whiffed. All of a sudden Cora emerged from the dugout and wanted the lefty/lefty matchup with Brian Johnson to face Olson. The gamble failed as Olson singled to load the bases, causing Cora to bring in Matt Barnes. Matt Joyce pinch hit for Canha and Barnes blew him away to end the inning, good work Matt.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the eighth as Ramirez popped up to short, Moreland grounded out to short and Devers also grounded out to short to end the inning. Barnes stayed in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and froze Pinder to start. Lucroy grounded out to third and Semien grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Sox nearly scored again in the top of the ninth when Nunez singled and JBJ walked to begin. The rally ended cold turkey as Vazquez bounced into a double play and Holt grounded out to third to end the inning. Joe Kelly came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and he got Piscotty to ground out to second to start. Lowrie was finally retired on a fly out to center and Kelly blew away Davis to end the game. The Sox had won 8 in a row again and this game by a 7-3 score.
Hero of the Night is Mitch Moreland. His grand slam was the deciding blow to win the game.
The Good:
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Eduardo Nunez was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 3 with a walk including a 3 run home run.
Hector Velazquez got the win with 3 shutout innings of relief.
Matt Barnes got out of the bases loaded jam with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Bad:
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Brian Johnson allowed a single to the only man he faced.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Brock Holt was just 1 for 4.
Drew Pomeranz allowed 3 runs in the first inning but finished strong in 3 2/3 innings in his first start of the season.
Final Thoughts:
As the New York Yankees continue to falter (they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 8-5) there seems to be no stopping the Red Sox. Even when a rusty Drew Pomeranz falters they still managed to bop their way to victory with two timely pieces of hitting. That's how you pick up your teammates day in and day out to keep a streak going. It seems crazy for the Sox to be doing this well but when you look at it, this is what they were supposed to do. Like I said before, the 2016 offense combined with the 2017 pitching and defense is deadly, so far that's what 2018 has been. Think of it this way, this team would be undefeated apart from Carson Smith's opening day meltdown and David Price's hand going numb. The scary part is the Sox are still missing three key guys (Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, Tyler Thornberg) that will make the team even better. If the baseball pundits thought this was the A's only chance to win a game in this series, they certainly blew it and another sweep isn't out of the realm of possibility. Tomorrow night the A's toss out Sean Manea but run smack into Chris Sale (1-0, 1.23 ERA). The game begins at 9:00 PM at Oakland Coliseum.
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