4 takeaways from the Red Sox 7-0 loss to Oakland
By Matt McCarthy, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Red Sox opened up their series in Oakland with a 7-0 loss to the Athletics Monday night, dropping the defending World Series champions to 1-4 on the season.
W: Aaron Brooks (1-0)
L: David Price (0-1)
Here are four thoughts from the game:
1. Can anybody on this pitching staff keep the ball in the ballpark?
Red Sox starting pitchers have combined to give up 11 home runs in the first five games of 2019.
David Price was the latest Sox hurler to be hurt in a big way by the long ball. The lefty gave up three home runs and missed up in the zone badly on all three dingers.
https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1112905730741489664
https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1112926709089816576
Red Sox starters simply haven’t been good enough to give the team a chance the first time through the rotation in 2019.
2. Who is Aaron Brooks and how did he shut down the Red Sox?
A’s righty Aaron Brooks, making his first major league start since 2015, shut the Red Sox down over six scoreless innings. Brooks, a 28-year-old, has only 19 Major League appearances and entered Monday with a career 8.01 ERA.
3. You’ve got to be kidding me with this throw:
We’re only five games into 2019, but we might already have a winner for throw of the year. Ramon Laureano has a hose.
https://twitter.com/RealAlexBarth/status/1112905838941929473
You won’t see a better throw than that. Wow.
4. The new look Red Sox lineup lasted just three games:
Alex Cora moved Mookie Betts back into the leadoff spot and returned Andrew Benintendi to second in the order to begin the series in Oakland. Benintendi was out on Sunday with a sore knee and entered Monday night just 2-for-12 on the season. Cora told reporters that he could still flip-flop Benintendi and Betts at some point, but for now it looks like the Sox want to go back to what worked so well in 2018.
Up next:
The Sox and A’s meet again Tuesday night. Chris Sale (0-1) takes the ball against Oakland right-hander Mike Fiers (1-1)
You can hear Matt McCarthy on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s own Hardcore Baseball podcast and on various 98.5 The Sports Hub programs. Follow him on Twitter @MattMcCarthy985.