A’s Pile It On In 13-0 Rout of Red Sox
April 23, 2013; Boston, MA USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (40) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
True to form, the Oakland Athletics broke out of a slump with a win that showcased many of the traits that were lacking in their four-game losing streak. A’s fans can breathe a little easier after the team’s 13-0 drubbing of the Boston Red Sox Tuesday night that was called after seven innings due to rainy conditions at Fenway Park.
Bartolo Colon dominated a Boston lineup that could do no wrong against A.J. Griffin the day before, allowing only three hits, striking out seven and walking one on a cold, wet night in New England. Red Sox starter Alfredo Aceves didn’t fare so well, however, giving up eight runs — seven earned — as well as four walks and two costly balks that put the A’s up 8-0 by the time he left the game with one out in the top of the fourth.
The highlight for Oakland was a six-run third inning that effectively put the game out of reach for the Red Sox with the way Colon was pitching. After starting off the inning with a walk to Eric Sogard and a single to Coco Crisp, Aceves walked John Jaso to load the bases and then brought home a run on a walk to Seth Smith. It looked he might be able to contain the damage when he struck out Jed Lowrie on three pitches, but Brandon Moss drove a curveball up the middle in the next at-bat to make it 3-0.
Things snowballed from there for Aceves, as a balk advanced Smith and Moss, and Josh Donaldson made it 4-0 on a sacrifice fly to score Smith from third. Josh Reddick followed that up with a shot to first that was contained by Mike Napoli, but Reddick beat Aceves to the bag at first, and Moss went for home plate before the pitcher came to his senses and threw wide of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, allowing Reddick to advance to second. Reddick advanced to third on Aceves’ second balk of the night, and Chris Young made it 6-0 with an RBI single that would’ve been an out if Napoli could’ve handled the throw to first from Will Middlebrooks.
Seth Smith added a two-run homer in the fourth, and the A’s knocked Steven Wright around to the tune of five runs in his Major League debut to give the A’s their highest-scoring shutout over the Red Sox since a 15-0 win in 1932. Casper Wells got his first at-bat as an Athletic, flying out on the first pitch he saw as a pinch hitter in the sixth.
The A’s will try to win the series when they return to Fenway tomorrow for a 1:05 PST start — weather permitting — with Brett Anderson set to pitch against Jon Lester for the Red Sox.