Six days after throwing a complete-game shutout in Oakland, A’s starter Joey Estes ran into big trouble on the road Tuesday night. Again.
The right-hander continued his road woes in Boston as he gave up eight runs in 1 2/3 innings as the Red Sox pounded Oakland 12-9 at Fenway Park.
Estes, who blanked the Angels on four hits last Wednesday, has a sparking 1.91 ERA at the Coliseum but his shellacking in Boston left him with an unsightly 9.10 road ERA this season. He’s allowed 29 earned runs during his 28 2/3 innings away from Oakland.
Estes (3-4) gave up hits to the first four batters in the first, with Boston taking a 3-2 lead on Rafael Devers’ two-run single. But it was the second inning when the Red Sox chased Estes and broke things open with eight runs on seven hits, a walk and a hit batter.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first time since 2011 that every member of a major league lineup had at least one hit and one run in the first two innings. The Red Sox last did it in 2003.
Meanwhile, Brayan Bello fanned a career-high 11 batters _ getting each of his first 10 outs by strikeout _ and Wilyer Abreu and Dominic Smith homered on back-to-back pitches in the second inning.
Oakland Athletics’ Lawrence Butler, right, is congratulated by Shea Langeliers (23) after hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
On the day he was scratched from the All-Star Game with a sore shoulder, Devers had two hits and a walk, driving in three runs and scoring twice as the Red Sox won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to a season-high 10 games over .500.
Bello (9-5) is the first Red Sox pitcher since at least 1961 — and the first in the majors this year — to record his first 10 outs by strikeout. Even as he struggled in the first inning, when the A’s took a 2-0 lead on three hits and a wild pitch, Bello got all three outs on K’s.
Bello struck out three more (while allowing two baserunners) in the second, and then struck out the side in a 1-2-3 third inning. He fanned Lawrence Butler for the first out in the fourth, and then with runners on first and second he finally induced a groundout, by Max Schuemann.
By that time, the Red Sox led 11-2. Bello was charged for three more runs in the sixth, when he gave up a pair of singles and Butler’s 457-foot homer. In all, the Red Sox right-hander allowed five runs on nine hits and two walks.
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Oakland scored another run in the seventh and made it 12-9 with two outs in the ninth when Zack Gelof hit a three-run homer — his third hit of the game — off of Trey Wingcenter. Wingcenter, who was making his major league debut, got Butler on a popup in the infield to end it.
Alex Cora earned his 490th victory as Red Sox manager, surpassing Bill Carrigan for fourth-most in club history. It was Cora’s 900th game – more than 100 fewer than Carrigan (1,003).
Notable
A’s LHP Hogan Harris, whose wife is expecting their first child, was placed on the paternity list and RHP Michel Otañez was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to take his spot on the roster. Otañez worked 1 2/3 hitless, scoreless innings Tuesday, striking out four and walking three.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
