The Red Sox are set to go again for some reason. I think it's because they hate us.
For those still, torturing yourselves, the on-field events.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, End 8th -- Mark Melancon manages to work around a leadoff double in the eighth, so at least the Sox will make this the best game of the series.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 8th -- Sean Doolittle does just as well as Ryan Cook, recording a 1-2-3 eighth against the bottom portion of the Boston lineup.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, End 7th -- More good stuff from Junichi Tazawa, who strikes out Yoenis Cespedes and Chis Carter on eight pitches before inducing a ground ball to end the inning.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 7th -- From their best inning of the night, the Sox fall right back into 1-2-3 form, with Ryan Cook doing the honors.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, End 6th -- Craig Breslow follows Andrew Miller with three quick outs, making it seem as though the bullpen will at least not be the disaster it was Friday.
Knock on wood.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 1, Mid 6th -- The Red Sox actually manage to score a run, but even that they manage to make a mess of. After a walk to Jose Iglesias, singles from Scott Podsednik and Dustin Pedroia loaded the bases with one out. Cody Ross followed with a line drive into left field that was easily enough to score the lead runner, but Podsednik rounded third and was out by a mile at home, cutting the inning shorter than it could have been.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 0, End 5th -- Andrew Miller offers up a walk to Derek Norris, but it's a blissfully clean inning with two pop-ups and a K besides.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 0, Mid 5th -- Stop me if you've heard this one before: the Red Sox go 1-2-3 in the fifth, with Ryan Lavarnway striking out pitifully on a pitch in the dirt to get it started.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 0, End 4th -- More of the same in the fourth, as the Sox see two singles and a walk load the bases before a ground ball managed to push the one run of the inning across. Andrew Miller enters the game in place of Daisuke afterward and manages to close out the inning with a strikeout.
Athletics 5, Red Sox 0, Mid 4th -- Nothing forthcoming from the Red Sox this time, even with Dustin Pedroia and Cody Ross both going in the inning. Who can blame them if they've given up at this point?
Athletics 5, Red Sox 0, End 3rd -- This time it's nickle-and-diming that costs the Red Sox. Rather than long balls, the Athletics rely on three singles, two walks, and a sacrifice fly to score two more on the Red Sox. The Sox have been outscored 32-3 so far in this awful series.
Athletics 3, Red Sox 0, Mid 3rd -- Pedro Ciriaco gives the Red Sox their second baserunner of the game, but that seems to be all they can do, with the rest of the inning going fairly easily for Brett Anderson.
Athletics 3, Red Sox 0, End 2nd -- This time Diasuke's Awful Fastball™ is offered up to Stephen Drew. It's in just about the exact same spot as the one to Seth Smith, though the resulting blast comes with nobody on and ends up to right field rather than center. So at least they're mixing it up.
Atlhetics 2, Red Sox 0, Mid 2nd -- With no Dustin Pedroia to break things up, the Sox go 1-2-3 in the top of the second. At least it's not a perfect game track like yesterday.
Athletics 2, Red Sox 0, End 1st -- It's more surprising these days when the Sox don't allow runs early. Especially with the likes of Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound. Seven pitches earn Coco Crisp a leadoff walk. Three pitches later, and Daisuke offers up a truly ugly cut fastball--one of those ones just beneath the letters which seems to dip only enough to put them on a perfect plane with the bat for purposes of crushing. Seth Smith takes full advantage of it, launching a home run that actually manages to get into the stands well over the center field fence for the 2-0 Athletics lead.
Red Sox 0, Athletics 0, Mid 1st -- Dustin Pedroia continues to be a rare bright spot on a truly dire Red Sox roster. His single in the first extends his hitting streak to 13 games. It comes with two outs, though, and when Cody Ross can't get the job done, the inning comes to an end. That's really the two-batter window for the Red Sox, sad though it may be.