Two teams moving in opposite directions, a slumping Oakland, and a surging Boston squad played out exactly how you would expect. A 6-1 Boston victory.
Nick Pivetta continued his hot start to the season by shutting down the A’s for 8 innings. He only allowed 3 hits and 2 walks throughout those 8 innings. Pivetta collected 7 whiffs on his fastball which has a -11 run value and .164 BAA on the season. Pivetta’s dominance was followed up by a scoreless inning from Phillips Valdez.
The Red Sox offense was led by the leadoff man Rob Refsnyder and third baseman Rafael Devers. Refsnyder and Devers both had 4 hard hit balls and they combined for 4 of the 6 Boston RBI’s.
The only source of run scoring for the A’s came in the form of a Stephen Vogt homer in the 8th inning. Vogt also had 2 walks. First baseman Christian Bethancourt had 3 hard hit balls in his 4 at-bats. Bethancourt has been the most consistent piece of offense for the A’s all year, he has an xBA of .309 and an xSLG of .631.
Athletics starter Jared Koenig had a forgettable start that raised his ERA to 11.25. He went 4 innings giving up 6 earned runs and 9 hits. He also allowed 7 hard hit balls. The Oakland bullpen didn’t allow any runs, Adam Oller pitched two scoreless frames. Lou Trivino struck out two in his inning of work, and Austin Pruitt threw a 14 pitch bottom of the 8th.