Price pitch imperfect
Homer in 8th sinks lefty, Sox
OAKLAND, Calif. — In a tie game in the eighth inning, the Red Sox had a decision to make with David Price.
The left-hander had thrown 90 pitches and given up back-to-back singles to Marcus Semien and Stephen Piscotty. Carson Smith was warming in the bullpen, and pitching coach Dana LeVangie came out to talk with Price.
With Oakland’s two best hitters about to come up, the Sox stuck with Price. The faith seemed to work when the lefty convincingly struck out Jed Lowrie, one of the best hitters in baseball so far this season, so Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t think twice about keeping him in for Khris Davis.
“The way he got him out, you could see his fastball was good enough,” Cora said. “The pitch to Jed, that was probably the one that made me make the decision.”
It ended up being fool’s gold. Price’s first pitch to Davis was an 87-mph cutter, a pitch Price had been in command of all day, but this time, he left it too far over the plate. Davis made him pay by smoking the pitch over the left-field wall for a three-run homer, and the A’s went on to a 4-1 win at the Coliseum.
“I just didn’t get it in far enough,” Price said of the decisive pitch. “Just didn’t make a pitch when I needed to and that was the ballgame.”
It was the Red Sox’ second consecutive loss, which makes for their first losing streak of the season, and their first series loss.
The Red Sox had one last chance to come back in the ninth, but failed to pose a threat. Brock Holt reached on an error, then advanced to second on defensive indifference. But Christian Vazquez flew out to right to end the game.
Cora said he didn’t consider pinch-hitting for Vazquez, who had doubled earlier in the game. Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez were both on an off day, but Cora said he was only going to use Betts if he represented the tying run.
“It had to be the perfect spot for him,” Cora said.
Without Betts and Ramirez, the Red Sox had trouble against A’s starter Daniel Mengden. The righty retired 16-of-17 batters before the Sox finally woke up in the seventh.
Mitch Moreland and Rafael Devers opened the frame with back-toback singles before Blake Swihart grounded into a fielder’s choice. Holt then hammered a Mengden four-seamer to right for an RBI double to tie the game.
It was the sixth straight game with a hit for Holt, who is batting .375 over that span, and the run broke a skid of 18 scoreless innings for the Red Sox.
But they couldn’t do any more damage. Holt’s knock also put runners on second and third with one out, but Vazquez fouled out before Tzu-Wei Lin struck out swinging.
A day after Sean Manaea pitched a no-hitter, the Red Sox again seemed flummoxed by A’s pitching. They struck out 10 times, including three by J.D. Martinez.
“They did a good job getting ahead in the count, then they expand the zone with changeups, off-speed pitches,” Cora said. “We put some good at-bats today, they hit the ball hard. We had a chance to take the lead, second and third, infield in, Christian gets a good pitch to hit, doesn’t get it.”
Price had pitched a winnable game before the costly eighth. He fell behind early as Semien doubled to open the game and scored on Davis’ single to left.
But the lefty settled down. He was efficient and in command, mixing his pitches well before he lost it on that one offering in the eighth. He threw 96 pitches over 72⁄3 innings, his longest outing of the season, striking out six.
“It was good until the last hitter I faced,” Price said. “Made pitches all day long, and one pitch cost me and cost our team.”