Oakland A’s Avoid The Sweep In Extras Against Boston

May 4, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Oakland Athletics left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) hits a double during the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland A’s defeated the Boston Red Sox by the final score of 3-2 at Fenway Park in game three of the series to avoid being swept. It took 10 innings to get the job done, and that caps off a 10-game road trip with a 6-4 record.

For the A’s Jim Johnson picks up the win after coming into the game in the ninth and finishing the game off in the tenth. Starter Sonny Gray, who picked up a no-decision, looked strong before he was pulled in the seventh after facing two batters.

One of those two batters was A.J. Pierzynski who hit a solo home run to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning. The other run scored off of him came in the form of an RBI double in the fifth off the bat of Grady Sizemore.

Offensively the Oakland A’s got on the board early as Brandon Moss knocked ii Josh Donaldson during the first inning with a base hit to center field. The other two runs came off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes, first on a double that scored knocked Donaldson in for his second run scored of the game while. The other eventually gave the A’s the 3-2 lead in the tenth.

That hit in the tenth inning by Cespedes was preceeded by a long inning which started with a  two-out double by Jed Lowrie against Chris Caupano to get into scoring position. With the open bag the Red Sox chose to intentionally walk Donaldson, then pinch-hitter Albert Callaspo drew another walk which loaded the bases.

At that point Cespedes came up to bat and after getting into a quick 0-2 hole against new pitcher Burke Badenhop hit a weak grounder to third base. Cespedes was able to beat it out barehanded field and throw effort and that allowed Lowrie to score the leading run.

In the bottom of the tenth Will Middlebrooks led the inning off with a double and just like that the Red Sox were in great position to tie the game. However, Derek Barton came up with a beautiful heads-up play on a sharp grounder to him at first and instead of taking the easy out he was able to throw to Donaldson to catch Middlebrooks trying to get to third.

Jim Johnson would then finish things off by getting Dustin Pedroia to hit into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

With the win the Oakland A’s finish their road-trip off strong and in doing so avoid the sweep. Now they head home to start a 10-game home stand that includes a four-game set against Seattle.