Nick Pivetta combined with opener Brennan Bernardino and closer Chris Martin on a one-hit shutout as the Boston Red Sox beat the host Oakland Athletics 7-0 on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Connor Wong collected two singles, a double and three RBIs for the Red Sox, who beat the A’s for the fourth time in 11 days.
With star third baseman Rafael Devers (calf) on the bench, Boston put up single runs in the first and second innings before Pivetta (6-5) even took the mound.
Making his third start of the season, Bernardino allowed a single to Ryan Noda, the third batter he faced, but no other hits before handing a 2-0 lead to Pivetta after two innings.
Pivetta was even more dominant, holding the A’s hitless over six innings while matching his career high with 13 strikeouts. The right-hander walked two. Martin struck out three of the four batters he faced in the ninth, giving the Red Sox trio 18 strikeouts among 27 outs.
Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Wong produced the 2-0 lead before Boston broke the game open with a four-run sixth. Wong had a two-run double in the middle of the uprising, which also featured a sacrifice fly by Adam Duvall and an RBI groundout by Yu Chang.
A’s starter Paul Blackburn (1-2) was pulled two outs into the inning, charged with six runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out three.
Boston tacked on a run in the ninth when Turner capped a two-RBI game with a run-scoring fielder’s choice.
Turner, Duvall, Alex Verdugo and Jarren Duran joined Wong with doubles for the Red Sox, who won for the 11th time in their last 13 games. The visitors had as many doubles (five) as singles (five) in their 10-hit attack.
Eight of the nine hitters in Boston’s lineup recorded at least one hit.
The shutout was the 11th of the season for the A’s, who have lost eight in a row, matching their second-longest losing streak of the season to an 11-gamer in May.
–Field Level Media
