Red Sox face A's hoping to continue early-season dominance
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Two left-handers off to fast starts go head-to-head Saturday night when the Boston Red Sox send Chris Sale against the Oakland Athletics and Sean Manaea in the second matchup of a three-game series. The Red Sox won their eighth straight game when they took the series opener 7-3 Friday night behind a three-run home run by Jackie Bradley Jr., a grand slam by Mitch Moreland and 5 1/3 innings of shutout relief pitching. Boston has scored at least seven runs in all eight games of its winning streak. Manaea has experienced Boston's explosive offensive first-hand, having gone just 1-2 with a 13.50 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox. His lone win against the Red Sox came in his only home start against them last season, an 8-3 win last May in which he allowed just two earned runs in five innings. Hanley Ramirez had a homer off him in that game, his second in six career at-bats against Manaea. Mookie Betts has been an even bigger thorn in the young lefty's side, going 4-for-8 with a triple and two homers against him. Manaea (2-2, 1.63 ERA) has been stingy in four starts this season, allowing no more than two earned runs in any of them. He got the win in his last start, going seven innings in a 2-1 triumph at Seattle. He allowed just two hits and the one run in the game. A's manager Bob Melvin gushed at Boston's best-in-baseball record Friday night, noting that all his pitchers, not just Manaea, have their hands full in this season. "All these guys look like they're on fire," he said. "They hit the ball out of the ballpark. They have some speed ... Hopefully we can slow them down a little bit, but right now they certainly look like the class of the American League." The A's didn't even see new Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez on Friday night. He was given the night off. The A's knocked former teammate Drew Pomeranz out in the fourth inning, but then came up empty against three Boston relievers. Oakland entered the series having won four in a row, including three straight against the Chicago White Sox in which they scored eight or more runs all three times. Runs have been tough to come by against Sale (1-0, 1.23) all season. He hasn't surrendered more than one in any of his four starts. Typical of Sale's hard-luck season was his last start, a 3-1 win over Baltimore. He did not get a decision despite allowing just two hits and one run in five innings. Sale is 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA in 13 career appearances, including eight starts, against the A's. He pitched once at Oakland last season, getting no decision in a 3-2 A's win in 10 innings. He held Oakland to two runs on seven hits in seven innings, striking out 10. Oakland's Mark Canha had a double and a triple against Sale, then smacked a walk-off home run in the 10th off Heath Hembree. Sale is going to have to figure out a way to cool down Jed Lowrie, who has a .400 career batting average (8-for-20) against the veteran. Lowrie had four hits in Friday's loss, including a first-inning double that increased his American League-leading RBI total to 22. |