Red Sox 8, A's 3
Fenway Park, Boston, Mass.
July 27, 2009
Headliner: Beckett needed to keep the damage to a minimum with the Red Sox offense struggling to produce runs of late, and the right-hander gave his team a chance to come through in the series opener. Beckett pitched seven-plus strong innings against the last-place A's, allowing eight hits and three earned runs for his league-leading 12th win. He struck out 10 for the second time this season and first time since Opening Day, walking just one in the 103-pitch effort.
Dirt Dog: The Red Sox have had an extremely tough time scoring runs since the All-Star break, but they finally broke through in the win against the A's. The Red Sox scored eight runs, just the second time they scored more than four since the break, and racked up 14 hits in the offensive outburst. They finished the game 14-for-34 (.412) against A's pitching with six extra-base hits.
Better luck next time: Trevor Cahill was unable to build off his big performance in his last start against the Twins, getting rocked by the Red Sox over five innings on Monday. Cahill allowed 10 hits and six earned runs on 110 pitches, striking out five and walking two. The loss dropped the 21-year old to 6-9 on the season.
Key moment: The Red Sox held a 6-0 lead over the A's heading into the sixth inning, but the A's loaded the bases against Beckett with two outs to put a scare into the Red Sox. Beckett allowed an RBI single to Kurt Suzuki to make it 6-1 before getting out of the jam with the tying run in the on-deck circle.
On deck: The Red Sox continue their four-game series with the A's on Tuesday at Fenway Park. Clay Buchholz (1-1, 3.72) will make his third start of the season against Vin Mazzaro (2-7, 4.75).
