Well, it can hardly get worse for the Red Sox after the 20-2 destruction they suffered Friday. For those who can stand to look, we'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in Fenway Park.
Athletics 7, Red Sox 1, Mid 8th -- Another 1-2-3 inning brings the Sox close to the merciful end to another bad performance.
Athletics 7, Red Sox 1, End 7th -- The good new for Daniel Bard is that 94 MPH is faster than he threw his fastball last night. The bad news for Daniel Bard is that it's still 4 MPH off his old standard, about 7 off his old max, still straight as a line, and good for a leadoff homer.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 7th -- More struggles for the Red Sox, who really should be in the middle of (the wrong side of) a shutout right now. They go down in order in the seventh, ending with a ground out for Jarrod Saltalamacchia who decides now might not be the best time to try another bunt, even with the shift still on.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, End 6th -- Once more unto the breach goes Alfredo Aceves, working around a leadoff walk to keep the A's down once more. At this rate, this may not end up completely embarassing!
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 6th -- The Sox finally get on the board, but it's only thanks to a bad call from the home plate umpire. Pedro Ciriaco tries to score from second on a Dustin Pedroia single, and while both the throw and tag seem to beat him to the plate, the umpire signals safe. Pity call?
Athletics 6, Red Sox 0, End 5th -- Aceves returns to the field after his dugout meltdown and coughs up a run in the fifth on a couple of singles with a steal mixed in.
Athletics 5, Red Sox 0, Mid 5th -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia earns himself a healthy chorus of boos by bunting to the vacated left side to pick up a single and break up the perfect game being tossed by A.J. Griffin. The baserunner goes for naught, too, with Griffin staying otherwise perfect the rest of the way.
Athletics 5, Red Sox 0, End 4th -- More drama for the Red Sox--just what they needed--as Alfredo Aceves and Dustin Pedroia have words following a messy but scoreless fifth. Multiple pickoff plays at second seem to test Dustin Pedroia, and a pop-up in foul territory has Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Aceves come close to a collision, with neither man able to come up with it likely due to the other's interference. Still, the Sox escape scoreless, which is about all they can ask for right now.
Athletics 5, Red Sox 0, Mid 4th -- More perfection from Griffin, who sits the Sox down so fast they may as well not have even bothered coming to the plate.
Athletics 5, Red Sox 0, End 3rd -- And now we're really starting to see last night come again. Scott Podsednik saves a run after a leadoff single and double, throwing out Coco Crisp at home to try and pick up a struggling Felix Doubront, but to no avail. Even though Josh Reddick strikes out swinging, bringing the Sox one good at bat away from ending the frame harmlessly, Doubront surrenders a walk, a double that bounces off Cody Ross' glove when he can't get it up quickly enough on the run, and a Derek Norris single to make it 5-0 in favor of Oakland. Still, it's a better pace than was set last night. Progress!
Athletics 1, Red Sox 0, Mid 3rd -- A.J. Griffin remains on a perfect game track, sitting down the bottom of the Red Sox lineup in order without a hard hit ball to be found.
Athletics 1, Red Sox 0, End 2nd -- An errant throw costs Felix Doubront one baserunner, and a four-pitch walk to Brandon Hicks another, but he strikes out the other three batters he faces in the second to save the Sox from any further damage.
Athletics 1, Red Sox 0, Mid 2nd -- The middle of the order does no better--worse even--than the top-three, with Cody Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia both striking out as part of another 1-2-3 frame
Athletics 1, Red Sox 0, End 1st -- I have seen this movie before, and I do not like where it is going. On just the fourth pitch of his outing, Felix Doubront has to turn and watch a fastball clear the fence in left off the bat of Coco Crisp for a solo shot. The young southpaw surrenders no more in the first, but it's a bad sign, and one that's all-too-familiar given Friday's mess.
Red Sox 0, Athletics 0, Mid 1st -- With a lineup featuring Scott Podsednik in the three-spot, you can't expect much. So in a way they met expectations by going down in order on 12 pitches, with Podsednik himself swinging at a 1-2 fastball and foul tipping it into Derek Norris' glove for out number three.