April 1, 2008 Athletics 3, Red Sox 2

No help again from the top of the order as the top three today go 0 for 12, but this time the rest of the team can't make up for it as two A's sac flies in the 2nd inning give them a lead that they never relinquish in the team's first game on American soil. Jason Varitek had a chance to play hero again with two on and two out in the 9th, but due to Oakland being a lousy place for homeruns his split card of 7 on a homerun chance ends up only being a long fly out to end the game. The top three in the lineup so far in the first three games of the season - a dreadful 1 for 37 and a woeful batting average of .027!! Pedroia 1 for 12, Ortiz 0 for 13, Youkilis 0 for 8 and Ellsbury 0 for 4.

Strat-O-Matic Report

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BOXSCORE: 2008 Boston Red Sox At 2008 Oakland Athletics              4/1/2008
 
  Red Sox            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG
  J.Ellsbury RF       4  0  0  0 .250     T.Buck RF           4  0  1  0 .091  
  D.Pedroia 2B        4  0  0  0 .083     M.Ellis 2B          4  0  4  1 .500  
  D.Ortiz DH          4  0  0  0 .000     D.Barton 1B         4  0  0  0 .000  
  M.Ramirez LF        3  1  1  1 .364     J.Cust DH           4  0  0  0 .000  
  M.Lowell 3B         4  0  0  0 .250     E.Brown LF          4  1  1  0 .091  
  K.Youkilis 1B       4  0  1  0 .083     B.Crosby SS         3  1  1  0 .200  
  J.Varitek C         4  1  1  0 .333     J.Hannahan 3B       2  0  0  1 .500  
  C.Crisp CF          2  0  1  0 .400     K.Suzuki C          2  0  0  1 .000  
  J.Lugo SS           2  0  1  1 .500     R.Sweeney CF        2  1  0  0 .000  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      31  2  5  2                 Totals      29  3  7  3
 
 
Red Sox......... 0 0 1  0 0 0  1 0 0  -  2  5  0
Athletics....... 0 2 0  0 1 0  0 0    -  3  7  0
 
Red Sox (2-1)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
D.Matsuzaka LOSS(1-1)     6       6   3   3   1   8   0 100   2.25
B.Corey                   2       1   0   0   0   3   0  20   0.00
Totals                    8       7   3   3   1  11   0
 
Athletics (1-2)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
J.Blanton WIN(1-1)        8       4   2   2   1   3   1 113   2.51
H.Street SAVE(1st)        1       1   0   0   1   1   0  20   9.00
Totals                    9       5   2   2   2   4   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 15,444 DATE- Tuesday, April 1st 2008 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad
UMPIRES- Jeff Nelson, Mark Carlson, Tim Tschida, Jim Joyce
T- 2:52
LEFT ON BASE- Red Sox: 5  Athletics: 5
DOUBLE PLAYS- Red Sox: 0  Athletics: 0
DOUBLES- J.Varitek(1st), C.Crisp(1st), M.Ellis(1st), B.Crosby(1st)
HOME RUNS- M.Ramirez(1st)
STOLEN BASES- J.Ellsbury(1st)
SACRIFICE HITS- J.Lugo
SACRIFICE FLIES- J.Hannahan, K.Suzuki
WALKS- M.Ramirez, C.Crisp, R.Sweeney
STRIKE OUTS- D.Ortiz, M.Lowell, K.Youkilis, J.Lugo, T.Buck, D.Barton-2,
             J.Cust-4, B.Crosby-2, J.Hannahan, R.Sweeney
 
Joe Blanton came through with a solid 8 innings and Mark Ellis had 4 hits as
the Oakland Athletics defeated the Boston Red Sox by the score of 3 to 2 at
McAfee Coliseum.
 
Oakland had 2 runs cross the plate in the bottom of the 2nd inning.  Boston
made it exciting in the 9th, but they were unable to push the needed runs
across.  
 
Blanton(1-1) got credit for the victory, pitching 8 innings and allowing 2
runs. Blanton got help from Huston Street who earned his 1st save.  Daisuke
Matsuzaka(1-1) was given the loss.  
 
Bob Geren was beaming after the game, 'Not only were we making good contact,
but a lot of balls we hit seemed to have 'eyes'! I just love winning these
tight ones! It was just our evening - no doubt about it!'

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