Oakland A’s starter Jared Koenig who lost his first game in his Major League debut on Wed Jun 8, 2022 at Truist Field in Cobb County against the Atlanta Braves will face the Boston Red Sox on Tue Jun 13, 2022 (AP News photo)
By Jerry Feitelberg
The Oakland A’s arrived in Boston Sunday night after finishing a four-game series with the Cleveland Guardians. The A’s managed to beat the Guardians on Saturday 10-5. The A’s have lost fourteen of their last 16 games.
They find themselves in the cellar in the AL West. Their record is a woeful 21-41. However, their bats showed signs of life as they bashed four home runs in the 10-5 win on Saturday. Their hitters slugger three solo dingers in the 6-3 loss to the Guardians on Sunday.
A’s first baseman, Christian Bethancourt, has started to hit. He raised his batting average to .269. His on-base percentage is a respectable .310. He has hit four homers and driven in 15.
In fourth place in the very tough AL East, the Red Sox went 8-2 on the completed 10-game road trip. The Sox are now 32-29 for the season. Injuries, however, are starting to affect the pitching.
Starters Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock are on the 15-day IL. Chris Sale is still not available. The Red Sox still have a very potent lineup. Their All-Star candidates include third baseman Rafael Devers, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, second baseman Trevor Story, and DH J.D. Martinez.
The Red Sox cannot afford to take the A’s lightly. The A’s play better on the road. They are 14-18 away from the Oakland Coliseum. They are a woeful 7-23 at home.
The A’s showed they have some pop in their bats as they sent seven balls into the seats in the last two games of the Cleveland series. They hope to continue pounding the ball in the hitter-friendly confines of Boston’s Fenway Park.
The A’s will send lefty Jared Koenig to the hill Tuesday night. Koenig will be making his second start in his brief Major League career. In his first outing, he made it into the fourth inning. He absorbed the loss, and his ERA is 9.00. Nick Pivetta (5-5, 3.78 ERA) goes for Boston.
On Wednesday, James Kaprielian will handle the pitching chores for the A’s. James is 0-3, and his ERA is 5.73. He pitched better in his last outing but did not get the decision. The A’s feel James is rounding back into the form he showed last season.
The Red Sox have not announced their starting pitchers for Wednesday or Thursday. The A’s starter on Thursday will be Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is 5-2 with a very tidy era of 2.31. Blackburn went eight innings in his last outing against Cleveland.
He was ahead 2-0 when he left the game. The Guardians rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth as the A’s bullpen melted down again.
As baseball fans know, anything can happen in games played at Fenway Park. Fenway has been a hitter’s paradise for over 100 years.
The A’s would love to get back into the win column and take at least two out of three from the Sox in a series that starts on Friday night. Boston would love to sweep the A’s again. As always, it should be a fun series.
On Friday night the A’s return to the Oakland Coliseum to host the Kansas City Royals for a three game series.
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