The Red Sox and Athletics are ready to kick off a three-game weekend set in Oakland as Aaron Cook takes the mound against Brandon McCarthy.
We'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in the Coliseum.
Athletics 18, Red Sox 2, End 7th -- Yeah...so that happened. Craig Breslow came in, things got messy, Mauro Gomez made an error, Mark Melancon came in, Josh Reddick hit a grand slam...
I think somewhere along the line a goat entered play. There may have also been a rendition of the HMS Pinafore. I honestly don't know. What are we doing again?
Athletics 9, Red Sox 2, Mid 7th -- How do you get Jose Iglesias off the .000 OBP schneid? You plunk him, that's how! Iglesias' HBP along with a Pedro Ciriaco single get the Sox another pair of baserunners, and this time they actually manage to score a run with a wild pitch and Mauro Gomez ground out. Progress!
Athletics 9, Red Sox 1, End 6th -- How do you make this game worse? Bring Daniel Bard into it to surrender a home run while looking a lot like the pitcher who left to the minors a couple months back. It's just depressing to see what's become of him. His velocity is gone, and with it his control.
Athletics 8, Red Sox 1, Mid 6th -- Dustin Pedroia and Cody Ross both reach base with singles, but just as in the first and second innings the Sox simply can't come through with men on. That's the failing of a thin lineup, which nobody will deny the Red Sox have right now.
Athletics 8, Red Sox 1, End 5th -- Alfredo Aceves has not only lost his job as a closer, but he might be on the path to being non-tendered come the offseason. A two-run shot to infinity and beyond from Brandon Moss makes it an 8-1 game in favor of Oakland, with the Sox' pitching staff looking once again completely outmatched.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 5th -- Nothing doing for Boston in the top of the fifth, as McCarthy returns to form against the top of the order.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, End 4th -- Junichi Tazawa, who picked up the last out of the third, continues to roll right along, striking out two in a 1-2-3 fourth inning. He's been absolutely fantastic for the Red Sox this year, hopefully setting himself up for a bigger role than mop-up duty in the 2013 pen given his 29 strikeouts, 4 walks, and 1.72 ERA.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 4th -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia hits a monster blast in the fourth with the bases empty to get the Red Sox on the board, but it's just a drop in the relatively sizable bucket they need to fill.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 0, End 3rd -- More of the same for Aaron Cook, who is frankly lucky that he surrenders just two more runs on two doubles and a single given that just about every man to step up to the plate hit the ball very hard indeed.
Athletics 4, Red Sox 0, Mid 3rd -- Boston is going in the wrong direction offensively, as Brandon McCarthy enjoys his first clean inning tonight against the top of the order.
Athletics 4, Red Sox 0, End 2nd -- The ill omens from the first inning show their teeth in the second. Line drive after line drive start the inning, providing two runs before Cook can get an out. The next batter, Josh Donaldson, doesn't exactly hit a line drive, but it probably would have been better if he did. Instead, Donaldson bounces a ball off the stands past the wall in center field for a two-run shot that leaves the Red Sox in an early 4-0 hole.
Red Sox 0, Athletics 0, Mid 2nd -- More wasted baserunners for the Sox. This time they don't get two on until the already have one out on the board. The second out comes on a ground ball that moves the runners to second and third, but Jose Iglesias is still in search of his first hit, with Jose Iglesias hitting a flair to second that Cliff Pennington gloves for the out.
Red Sox 0, Athletics 0, End 1st -- Not exactly how Cody Ross needs to work, but three fly balls earn the ground ball specialist a clean inning all the same, and after their recent run of first inning failures, the Sox will take the early outs anyway they can get them.
Red Sox 0, Athletics 0, Mid 1st -- In one of the most Red Sox at bats of the year, Jacoby Ellsbury takes a two-on, nobody out situation following singles from Scott Podsednik and Dustin Pedroia, and throws it right out. An easy ground ball to first base provides one quick out with a step on the bag, and a second as former Red Sox Brandon Moss throws to second where Stephen Drew applies the tag for out number two. Cody Ross goes down on a fly ball, and just like that the inning is over.