Boston Red Sox Demolish Oakland Athletics in 14-7 Win

Red Sox slam Oakland Athletics’ ace Sonny Gray is a 14-run win

Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox fell behind early in Monday game against the Oakland Athletics. Despite it being Star Wars night at Fenway, the force was clearly not with Buchholz despite having a somewhat quality outing last week. Throughout the first four innings, Buchholz threw 73 pitches and allowed six hits and four runs.

After giving up a home run in the third and a lead off double in the top of the fourth, it seemed as though Buchholz’s night would be cut short. He had given up a lead off hit in three of the first four innings, which ultimately resulted in four runs for Oakland. Heath Hembree even began warming up in the Red Sox bullpen in the fourth. Thankfully, Buchholz was able to get out of the inning without incurring anymore damage.

Going into the bottom of the fourth, the Red Sox knew they had to make up some runs. They had only one run that had come in the bottom of the second on a wild pitch. Thankfully, they did not disappoint the home town crowd and Red Sox’ bats were as hot as lightsabers as they battled their way back from behind.

With a lead off double by David Ortiz and a single by first baseman Hanley Ramirez, third baseman Travis Shaw quickly followed suit with a double of his own. This happened to be Shaw’s second double of the night. This brought to score up to 4-2 with the Athletics still in the lead.

The runs did not end there. Boston’s bats continued to connect, and Oakland’s ace Sonny Gray continued to imploded. First, Jackie Bradley Jr hit a line single to center, scoring Hanley and Shaw to tie the game at 4-4. Then doubles kept rolling in as Mookie Betts smacked one into left that allowed Bradley to score. Dustin Pedroia earned an RBI of his own when he stepped upped to the plate and smacked a single to center, which scored Betts. The Sox took the 6-4 lead as Gray was pulled from the game in the bottom of the fourth.

However, replacing Gray with reliever Fernando Rodriguez only continued to benefit the BoSox. With Pedroia on second and Xander Bogaerts in first, Ortiz doubled for the second time that night to left field, scoring Pedroia and moving Bogaerts to third. The inning finally ended when Rodriguez struck out Hanley, stranding Bogarets and Ortiz on base.

When the fourth concluded and the Sox had scored a total of six runs, the Red Sox led 7-4. Boston continued to plate runs throughout the game. Brock Holt went yard in the fifth, earning two RBI and bumping the team up to a five run lead. JBJ hit a grand slam against John Axford in the sixth to give Boston the 13-4 lead. Ortiz drove in one last run in the seventh with a pop-up single.

The Oakland Athletics were able to score three more times throughout the rest of the game, but still came up very short. The Red Sox won 14-7.

The rest of the night for Buchholz was uneventful. With a nice lead going into the fifth, Buchholz was able to get through that inning without any issues. However, he was replaced in the sixth by Tommy Layne despite the Sox having a five run lead and only having thrown 87 pitches. It was definitely an interesting choice for Boston when they had the opportunity to rest their bullpen.

Game Notes

• In tonight’s game, David Ortiz moved one more spot up the all-time doubles leaders board. With his first double of the night in the fourth inning, he passed Luis Gonzalez and is now 15th on the list. Only three more to go to pass Barry Bonds.
• The Red Sox scored a season-high of 14 runs in Monday’s game.
• Jackie Bradley, Jr. is on on 15-game hitting streak and hit his first career grand slam tonight.
• Christian Vazquez was the only Red Sox player to not collect a hit in the game.
• Sonny Gray was rumored to be a top trade target for the Red Sox during the offseason, but after his last three rocky starts, could their opinion of him changed?

Because of Buchholz’s poor outing, the Red Sox pitching only deserves a B- tonight. It is clear that the Sox were disappointed in Buchholz by pulling him before he even reached 100 pitches. Thankfully, Layne and Carson Smith where each able to pitch two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh to secure the lead for Boston.

Next: Red Sox Strut: Week Five

Obviously, the Sox offense was on fire tonight. They scored a season high of 14 runs. Six of those runs came in the fourth and four of them came in the sixth. David Ortiz should be recognized for  going 3-for-5 with two doubles and a single. However, it is JBJ that gets the game ball for his three hits that drove in six runs. Let his hitting streak continue tomorrow!