Red Sox Suffer Worst Loss In 12 Years, A's Win 7th Straight

I don't even know how to set it up the neverending joke anymore but the Red Sox lost 20-2 to the A's tonight at O.co Coliseum in the series opener.

It's Boston's (62-71, 30-33 away) worst loss in 12 years as they fittingly fell a season-high nine games under .500. Oakland (74-57, 40-27 home) won its seventh straight game.

The Red Sox are on a pace to lose 86 games which hasn't happened since 1992. They must finish 19-10 to avoid first losing season since 1997. They must go 11-18 to avoid their first 90-loss season since 1966. They have a 7.04 ERA in 11 games since they fired pitching coach Bob McClure and replaced him with Randy Niemann. Finally, bookended by a 7-20 September 2011 and 9-20 August 2012, the Red Sox are 69-91 since last September 1.

Adding salt to the wound (if that's possible), three of the four former Red Sox on the A's (sorry Coco Crisp) had incredible nights. Brandon Moss was 4 for 5 with two doubles, four RBIs and four runs. George Kottaras was 3 for 5 with five RBIs, three runs and pair of homers while Josh Reddick was 2 for 5 with two runs and a grand slam.

Haha Oakland was 8 for 11 with runners in scoring position while Boston was 0 for 10. Yup, that about sums it up. After Aaron Cook (3-8) got shelled, six Red Sox relievers appeared and only Junichi Tazawa (1.1 innings) didn't allow a run.

Brandon McCarthy (8-5) recorded what had to be the easiest win of his MLB career and maybe life. The good news is that it is September now so there is only 29 games left for this clown show team that has currently lost four in a row.

Felix Doubront (10-6) faces rookie A.J. Griffin (3-0), who is coming off the DL, tomorrow night (9:05 p.m., NESN). With the way things are going for this franchise that can get out of its own way, I'd expect him to throw either a no-hitter or perfect game.

UPDATE 9/1: Since the PawSox clinched a playoff spot tonight and most of their best players were already with the Red Sox, reliever Rich Hill was the only guy added to Boston's roster as the MLB rosters expanded today.

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Randy Wolf quiets the Red Sox bats

It only took four pitches last night for you to figure out that Red Sox ace Jon Lester didn't have his best stuff.

Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart hit a pair of solo homers in the span of the first four pitches of the game as the Milwaukee Brewers (40-32) won 4-2 over Boston (42-28) at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox tied it up in the second as Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Mike Cameron had RBI singles off Brewers starter Randy Wolf.

Former Red Sox backup catcher George Kottaras hit a solo homer in the third and Casey McGehee added an RBI single.

Like John Lackey the night before, Lester (9-3) lasted eight innings but this time, Boston's offense wasn't able to bail him out. He gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.

In a matchup that seemed to clearly favor the Red Sox, Wolf (5-4) surprisingly came out on top. He went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Kevin Youkilis and Marco Scutaro both had two hits apiece.

Brewers setup man Kameron Loe pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and closer John Axford had a clean ninth (with a strikeout) for his 19th save of the season.

Milwaukee star Yovani Gallardo takes on Tim Wakefield this afternoon in the series finale and the rubber match.

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The Yankees can't buy a win against the Red Sox

It's a special time to be a Red Sox fan. With last night's exciting 6-5 win over the Yankees in the books, Boston improved to 7-0 against New York this season. After each win, all you can wonder is how much longer will this dominance last?

Red Sox (35-24) starter Tim Wakefield is 8-3 after six innings of work. He gave up three runs on eight hits, with three walks and two strikeouts.

For the second straight night, the Yankees (34-25) starter couldn't get out of the third inning. Chien-Ming Wang (0-4) is completely useless these days. He allowed four runs on six hits, with three walks and three strikeouts.

Jason Bay got the Sox on the board first with an RBI single in the first inning.

Jorge Posada (2 hits) tied it in the second with a solo homer.

Boston jumped ahead 3-1 in the home half of the second after George Kottaras' (2 hits) RBI double and Dustin Pedroia's RBI ground-rule double that was misplayed by Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher.

Mike Lowell hit a solo shot just over the Monster in the third.

Melly Cabrera cut it to 4-2 with an RBI single in the fourth before Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run shot.

New York chipped away at the lead as Robinson Cano brought home a run in the fifth with a ground out while Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira (4 hits) hit back-to-back solo homers in the seventh off Sox reliever Ramon Ramirez.

No worries though as Hideki Okajima got a hold, with four important outs (including three strikeouts) and Jonathan Papelbon recorded his 15th save.

Boston looks for the sweep tonight as Brad Penny (who will likely be dealt soon with John Smoltz and Clay Buchholz knocking at the door) takes on C.C. Sabathia.