The Boston Red Sox Rafael Devers hits a second inning two run home run as Oakland A’s catcher Sean Murphy can only watch at Fenway Park in Boston on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (AP News photo)
By Jerry Feitelberg
For the first four innings of the game Wednesday between the A’s and the Red Sox, it was deja vu once more. The Red Sox tallied six runs in the first four innings, just as they did Tuesday night. Last night, they failed to score after the fourth inning. They scored four more times tonight to trounce the hapless Oakland A’s 10-1.
James Kaprielian started for the A’s. Kaprielian pitched well in his last outing, and the A’s hoped Kaprielian would continue to pitch well. James had trouble with his command. In his three and 2/3rds innings of work, he threw 94 pitches; 48 were strikes.
He walked six batters and gave up seven hits and six runs. Reliever Domingo Acevedo was tagged for a two-run dinger off the bat of Alex Verdugo in the sixth inning. Lou Trivino had another rough night, giving up four hits and two runs in the eighth.
Boston grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With one out, Kaprielian walked Rafael Devers and J.D.Martinez. Xander Bogaerts singled to load the bases. Kaprielian retired Alex Verdugo on a ground to second.
Devers scored on the play. The Sox lead 1-0. The Red Sox increased the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second. With two out and a man at first, Devers sent a line drive into the bullpen in right field for his 16th home run. The exit velocity was a smoking-hot 113 miles-per-hour. It was the fourth game in a row that Devers had homered.
The Sox plated their fourth run in the bottom of the third. Bogaerts led off the inning with a fly ball that scraped the Green Monster in left field that was good for a double. Verdugo singled to drive Bogaerts in with the run.
Kaprielian, normally a pitcher with good control, walked Jarren Duran and Devers to start the fourth inning. J.D.Martinez was retired on a fly ball to right field. Duran tagged and went to third. Bogaerts drove in Duran with a sacrifice fly to right.
Verdugo singled, sending Devers to third. Sox second baseman Trevor Story hit a swinging bun up the third baseline. Kaprielian fielded the ball, but his throw got by A’s first baseman Christian Bethancourt. Devers scored on the play. Boston owned a commanding 6-0 advantage after four innings of play.
The A’s scored their only run of the night in the sixth. Matt Davidson, pinch-hitting for Stephen Vogt, sent former A’s pitcher Jake Diekman’s pitch over the Green Monster onto Lansdowne Street. The Red Sox answered with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Alex Verdugo sent homered with a man on to make it an 8-1 lead for Boston.
The Sox added two more in the eighth. Lou Trivino retired the first man he faced. He then gave up back-to-back doubles to Martinez and Bogaerts for Boston’s ninth run. Two more singles produced the final run of the game. Boston wins 10-1.
Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 21-43. Boston improved to 34-29.
The A’s have lost 16 of the last 18 games played. They play Boston Again Thursday afternoon. The Red Sox have won all five games between the teams this year.
Kaprielian took the loss and is 0-4. Red Sox starter Josh Winckowski notched his first win in Major League baseball. His record is 1-1.
The bright spots for Oakland were Matt Davidson’s monster home run and Jonah Bride’s first two hits in the Majors.
Oakland’s line was one run, seven hits, and one error. Boston’s line was ten runs, thirteen hits, and no errors.
The teams meet for the final time in 2022 at 10:35 am PT. The A’s will send Paul Blackburn out to pitch. The Red Sox will counter with former A’s hurler, lefty Rich Hill.
The time of the game was three hours and eight minutes. Thirty-one thousand eight hundred seventy-seven fans were on hand to see Boston romp to the lop-sided 10-1 victory.
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