Series Recap - Athletics @ Red Sox

I hate writing the day of losses. I hate writing the day of losses even more when I'm getting ready for the Celtics to play a must-win basketball game. This will probably be brief.

The Red Sox rolled back into Fenway on Tuesday after a much needed day off, riding high with an 8-2 record over their last 10. How would they settle back into Boston? Dong shots and dealing baby. The dong shots brought to you courtesy of Devers and Martinez, the dealing was dealt by Nick Pivetta. Funny enough the only run scored by the A's was a solo shot from Stephen Vogt. In my preview I said the following: "They do have one home run, and that is Stephen Vogt in his only at bat against Pivetta. He is batting .148 this year though, so we can call that one an outlier." I guess I'm a fucking idiot and Vogt turns into Teddy Ballgame against Nick Pivetta for some strange reason. Who knew? The other important thing to note is Rob Refsnyder. Refsnyder went 3 for 4 on the day and may actually be worthy of our trust as a legitimate option to fill in when a usual needs a day off. This is coming on the heels of probably one of the best catches I have seen this season?

Sox win 6-1.

Wednesday was more of the same, with Josh Winckowski getting his second career start. Winck looked like he belonged. He allowed 5 baserunners over 5 shutout innings. It gave some real promise to the idea that he can be a back end of the rotation guy down the stretch. No real deep analysis for him, just felt phenomenal seeing him go out there and recover after his first appearance. Devers also hit a home run in his fourth consecutive game, ho hum, not a big deal, nothing to see here. You'd have to be crazy not to build long term around this guy. Also, someone on the A's must have punched Verdugo's grandmother or something, because he LOVES beating up on these guys. 4 RBI including a home run. Sox win 10-1, series victory secured.

This leads me to today. Rich Hill did exactly what we expect every time, and gave us 5 and 2/3 of 3 run pitching. It's what we've come to expect, and on any half decent night our offense should be able to back that up. But, that is impossible if you just continuously squander scoring opportunities. We left THIRTEEN runners on base. That is not winning baseball. Traffic on the bases doesn't win you a ballgame. We should have won this game. And I hate to say it, but the best word I can use to describe Trevor Story so far on the Red Sox is inconsistent. Again, that is the best word. He didn't let Duran field a fly ball that should absolutely have been the Center Fielder's ball on any other day, and I think if either Hernandez or JBJ is in center field he lets them take, or they call him off. It was scored a hit, but that was an error on Story, and that baserunner ended up being the difference. 4-3 Sox loss.

C's in 7.