Oakland Athletics pitching coach Scott Emerson (14), left, talks with Jared Koenig (46) as catcher Sean Murphy (12) listens in during the second inning at Fenway Park in Boston in the first game of a three game series against the Boston Red Sox on Tue Jun 14, 2022 (AP News photo)
By Jerry Feitelberg
The Oakland A’s (21-42) road woes continued as they fell to the Boston Red Sox (33-29) 6-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. The A’s sent rookie lefty Jared Koenig to the mound the face the potent Red Sox lineup.
After making his second big league start, Koenig had the misfortune of going against the World Champion Atlanta Braves last week. As baseball fans know, left-handed pitchers dread pitching in Fenway Park. Pitchers know they will succeed if they keep their pitches down and away from the powerful right-handed hitters in Boston’s lineup.
The Red Sox scored runs in the first four innings of the game. In the first inning, with one out and Rafael Devers at first base, Koenig walked J.D.Martinez. Koening committed a balk, and the runners advanced to second and third. Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit a broken-bat single into short right-field. Devers scored to give Boston an early 1-0 lead.
The Sox plated their second run in the bottom of the second. With one out, Boston loaded the bases. Singles by Christian Vasquez and Bobby Dalbec were followed by Koenig hitting Franchy Cordero. Leadoff hitter Rob Ryfsnyder, filling in at center field for the injured Kike Hernandez, drove in Vazquez with a sacrifice fly. The score after two complete was 2-0 Boston on top.
Boston put their third run of the night on the board when slugger J.D. Martinez homered leading off the bottom of the third. It was Martinez’s eighth dinger of the year.
Jared Koenig’s night ended in the fourth. Singles by Franchy Cordero and Rob Ryfsnyder put two men on with no out. Boston’s third baseman, Rafael Devers, one of the top hitters in the American League, blasted a 439-foot home run over the bullpen in right-center-field to give Boston a commanding 6-0 after four complete.
Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta stymied the A’s offense. Pivetta’s only mistake was a gopher ball served up to A’s DH Stephen Vogt in the eighth inning. Pivetta’s line was eight innings of work, and he allowed one run and three hits to earn his sixth win of the year. The Red Sox win 6-1.
Game Notes: The A’s are now 21-42 for the season. They have lost 15 of the last 17 played and now own the worst record in the American League.
The A’s and the Cincinnati Reds are racing to the bottom of the barrel. The A’s are 1-6 on the nine-game road trip and have two more games with Boston before returning home to face the Kansas City Royals Friday night at the Coliseum.
The line score for Oakland was one run, four hits, and one error. Boston’s line was six runs, ten hits, and no errors.
Pivetta was the winning pitcher. Koenig took the loss and is now 0-2.
Adam Oller, Lou Trivino, and Austin Pruitt pitched well in relief. The bullpen held the Sox scoreless after the fourth inning. A’s manager Mark Kotsay had to be pleased with Trivino’s outing. Trivino worked an inning and stuck out two.
The A’s will send James Kaprielian (0-3, 5.73) out to face Boston Wednesday night. The Red Sox will start righthander Josh Winckowski (0-1, 12.00) . The game will start at 4:10 pm Pacific Time.
The time of the game was 2:43 minutes. There were 32,617 fans in attendance
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