Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay, second from left, comes to the mound to relieve Sam Long, back right, during the second inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, July 7, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
By DOUG ALDEN
BOSTON — A five-run second inning did the A’s in on Friday night, ultimately leading them to a 7-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox and keeping them on-pace for a historic low in MLB’s modern history.
Yu Chang, out since April with a broken bone in his left hand, drove in the first two runs of the game with a bases-loaded single and was one of six players with RBIs for Boston. The Red Sox pounded out 10 hits and extended their streak of games with 10 or more hits to six.
Jarren Duran, Justin Turner and Alex Verdugo had two hits apiece and each drove in a run for the Red Sox, who have won six of seven with two games remaining before the All-Star break. Nick Pivetta (5-5) struck out eight over five innings of relief and picked up the win.
Seth Brown hit a two-run homer for MLB-worst Oakland, which fell to 2-2 on a six-game trip and to 25-65 overall. The .277 winning percentage is good for a 45-117 pace, which would not be worse than the 1962 New York Mets’ modern record of .250 (40-120).
But Oakland’s run differential is now at a season-low minus-240 (323 runs scored, 563 runs allowed), and their current pace would have them finish at minus-432, shattering the 1932 Red Sox’s previous low of minus-349 for the worst in the modern era (1900-present).
Boston pounced quickly with a five-run second inning, chasing opener Sam Long (0-1) after he walked Triston Casas to load the bases with no outs, following consecutive singles by Verdugo and Kiké Hernández.
Long was replaced by Luis Medina, who struck out Triston Casas before Chang singled up the middle for two RBIs in his first at-bat since going on the 60-day injured list with a fractured bone in his left hand. Boston also got RBI singles from Jarren Duran and Turner during the five-run outburst, sending all nine batters to the plate for five singles and a walk.
Medina settled in after the big inning, retiring 12 straight before Casas singled up the middle with two outs in the sixth.
The A’s picked up an unearned run in the fifth on a throwing error by Rafael Devers, who fielded a tough single by Tony Kemp but delivered a wild throw to first. The error allowed Seth Brown to come all the way around from second and cut Boston’s lead to 5-1.
Brown pulled Oakland within 5-3 with a two-run homer in the seventh off of Pivetta. Brown drove the first pitch from Pivetta out to right-center for his eighth homer of the season, just after Shea Langeliers doubled to the corner in left, where Duran badly misread the towering fly and the ball landed on the warning track.
Although he wasn’t charged with an error, Duran atoned for his blunder in the bottom half with a hard grounder to the right-field corner for a triple. He scored when Adam Duvall ran out an infield single with two outs, putting Boston back up 6-3.
Long, who has two saves for the A’s, became the 14th pitcher to start a game for Oakland this season. The left-handed reliever struck out two in the first inning, but didn’t get an out in the second before Medina inherited the bases-loaded jam. Long allowed three runs on three hits and a walk.
Before the game, the A’s placed major league steals leader Esteury Ruiz on the 10-day injured list Friday because of a right shoulder injury.
Ruiz is batting .257 with 43 stolen bases. The Athletics said the outfielder has a shoulder subluxation.
The roster move, retroactive to Thursday, was one of several the Athletics announced Friday. Oakland also called up right-hander Angel Felipe and outfielder Cody Thomas from Triple-A Las Vegas and designated right-handed pitcher Rico Garcia for assignment.
The Athletics have used 47 players this season, not including the additions to the roster made Friday. Oakland used 64 players last year.
Oakland’s 2022 All-Star, right-hander Paul Blackburn (1-1, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to start for the A’s today against Red Sox left-hander James Paxton (4-1, 2.70) in the second of the three-game series.
Originally published at Associated Press