Another miserable performance from the Red Sox' offense combined with a terrible outing from Daisuke Matsuzaka served to sink the Sox in their third straight series opener, 6-1.
The Red Sox would actually get off to a hot start offensively, as a double from Daniel Nava and single from Dustin Pedroia were good to score a run off of Jarrod Parker before the first out was recorded. A double play ruined any further potential the inning may have had, however, and Daisuke was unwilling to hold the lead for more than two outs, serving up a solo shot to Josh Reddick in the bottom of the inning.
From there, it was all Oakland. Matsuzaka completely crumbled in the second inning, allowing the first two batters to reach before floating an awful 89 MPH fastball dead center over the plate to Brandon Moss, who hooked it to right for a three-run shot. With the next two batters also reaching, Matsuzaka was lifted for Clayton Mortensen, who managed to keep the Athletics to just one more run in the inning, leaving the Sox behind 5-1.
Mortensen would hold down the fort, but a combination of inopportune hitting and perfectly placed fielders would keep the Sox down, trending towards the former as the game went on. The worst came in the seventh, when with Adrian Gonzalez and Cody Ross reaching to start the inning, the Sox came up with a groundout and two strikeouts to score not a one. With the A's adding a sixth run against the Sox in the sixth inning, there was no coming back late, leaving the Sox at 2-3 on their West Coast road trip.
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