Kelly snaps winless drought against A’s
BOSTON — Hanley Ramirez had a sleepless night after a frightening moment at Fenway Park.
He responded with a homer in his first at-bat.
Ramirez hit a two-run shot, Joe Kelly pitched six solid innings to earn his first win since his initial start of the season, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 4-2 on Saturday.
The teams played a day after a fan at Fenway was struck in the head by a broken bat and suffered life-threatening injuries. Boston Police said Saturday she is expected to survive.
“I got sick. I couldn’t sleep last night. I went to bed late and I actually posted something that everybody (should) pray,” Ramirez said. “I hope she gets back and gets better.”
There was a moment of reflection for Tonya Carpenter at the ballpark before Saturday’s game. Sitting a few rows back to the left of home plate between the screen and Oakland’s dugout Friday night, Carpenter was struck by a hurtling piece of Brett Lawrie’s bat.
She was wheeled from the ballpark on a stretcher and rushed to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Hospital. She was in serious condition Saturday, her family said in a statement.
Lawrie was out of the A’s lineup Saturday, but manager Bob Melvin said it was because of a back issue, not any psychological effects. Lawrie entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, and Melvin said he’ll play Sunday.
The Athletics dropped to a major league-worst 6-24 in games decided by two or fewer runs.
“We’re in so many games and however we get there, you get tired of tipping your cap,” Melvin said. “Many of these games that we’re in, no matter if we look bad early on, we come back to be in position.”
Kelly (2-4) gave up one run and four hits, striking out six and walking two to snap his career-worst, nine-start winless stretch. His previous victory came on April 11 in an 8-4 win over the New York Yankees.
Asked if he felt pressure about his spot in the rotation when the club shifts from six to five starters, Kelly responded: “Zero.”
Koji Uehara, the fifth Red Sox pitcher, worked the ninth for his 13th save.
Jesse Chavez (2-6) allowed four runs and10 hits in five innings.
“First two innings again I felt like I was a little bit fighting myself,” he said.
Ramirez also singled twice, David Ortiz hit an RBI double and Mike Napoli had a run-scoring single for the Red Sox, who won for the fourth time in six games.
“Both (Ramirez) and David, when they’re producing in the middle of the order, it gives us a completely different look,” Boston manager John Farrell said.
Mark Canha hit a solo homer for Oakland, which lost for the third time in its last nine.
Ramirez’s 13th homer, a drive into the center-field bleachers, gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the first.
The Athletics cut it to 2-1 on Billy Burns’ RBI triple in the third before the slumping Ortiz snapped an 0-for-11 stretch with his double and Napoli followed with a single in the bottom of the inning.
Canha’s homer barely cleared the Green Monster in the seventh.