Red Sox Try To Blow A 10-Run Lead But The A's Don't Comply With Them

For many reasons, the Oakland Athletics will never be confused with the New York Yankees. The main difference being that they can't hit.

In their last game at Fenway Park (Sat. April 21), the Red Sox blew a nine-run lead to the Yanks. Tonight, they returned home from their wildly successful road trip (6-1) and for a little while, Boston (11-11, 4-5 home) entertained the idea of choking away a 10-run lead against the A's (11-13, 5-6) but they thought better of it and won 11-6.

Boston has won seven of its last eight games overall.

The Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak at Fenway as Clay Buchholz (3-1) continued to be a concern despite the fact that he keeps picking up cheap wins. He was handed the 11-1 advantage by the fifth inning but he quickly faded in the seventh by allowing Oakland's terrible lineup to score five runs in the frame. Buchholz went 6.2 innings, allowing six earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and five walks. He's been so bad that this crappy outing actually lowered his ERA a tad to 8.69.

After Junichi Tazawa couldn't get an out, Vicente Padilla recorded the final out of the seventh. Scott Atchison (1 out, 2 hits, walk) also wasn't on but Franklin Morales (2 outs) and Alfredo Aceves (3 outs) were able to wrap it up for Boston.

A's rookie lefty Tommy Milone (3-2) quickly discovered that this wasn't like facing the Mariners at spacious Safeco Field. In 4.2 innings, he allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits with five strikeouts and a walk.

Cliff Pennington (Chad's brother?) had an RBI single in the top of the first but the Red Sox answered with four runs in the second, two in the third and five in the fifth which turned out to be more than enough.

David Ortiz (3 runs) started it all with a solo homer into Oakland's bullpen. Marlon Byrd (2 runs) and Mike Aviles had RBI singles and Aviles eventually scored on Jemile Weeks's throwing error.

In the third, Darnell McDonald's (3 runs, 3 hits) two-run homer (his 2nd of the season) hit the light tower over the Monster. The fifth is when it really got silly as Ortiz homered again (his 6th of the season), this time into Boston's bullpen along with former Red Sox outfielder Josh Reddick who got a glove on it but couldn't catch the ball. He ended up flipping into the bullpen along with the baseball. Byrd added an RBI double and Aviles crushed a three-run bomb over the Monster (his 5th of the season).

Former Red Sox outfielders teamed up for Oakland's failed comeback attempt in the seventh. Two runs scored on Coco Crisp's (2 hits) weak single. Then Reddick (4th of the season) exacted some revenge with a three-run homer of his own, to right off Buchholz.

It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow but if they get the game in (7:10 p.m., NESN), Red Sox rookie Felix Doubront (1-0) faces A's rookie Jarrod Parker (0-0).

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