G16: Athletics 5, Red Sox 0

Red Sox   - 000 000 000 - 0  5  1
Athletics - 100 000 04x - 5  8  1

Lackey (6-4-1-1-3, 93) pitched very well, but Anderson (8-4-0-1-8, 109) completely shut down the Red Sox. Hideki Okajima, in his 2011 debut, gave up three runs in the eighth (and allowed an inherited runner to score) as Oakland padded its lead.

Boston had only two base runners in the first seven innings; Adrian Gonzalez singled with two outs in the first and he reached first on Anderson's throwing error in the seventh.

In the eighth, David Ortiz singled and Jacoby Ellsbury pinch-ran. Anderson fell behind Mike Cameron 3-0, but battled back to strike him out on a check swing; Ellsbury was running on the full count pitch and beat Kurt Suzuki's throw, but was called out because Cameron stepped in front of Suzuki as the catcher was throwing to second base. With two outs and no one on, Carl Crawford beat out an infield single and Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined a hit to left, but Anderson struck out Darnell McDonald on three pitches to end the threat.

Down by five with one out in the ninth, Dustin Pedroia walked and Gonzalez singled. But Youkilis flied to left and Ellsbury popped to shortstop.

Jed Lowrie went 0-for-4, snapping his seven-game hitting streak.

John Lackey / Brett Anderson

After three consecutive (nearly) stress-free wins over the Blue Jays -- 4-1, 8-1, 9-1 -- the Red Sox are in Oakland for the start of a nine-game road trip that will include stops in Anaheim and Baltimore.

Lefty Anderson has a 2.29 ERA in three starts (19.2 innings), but he can't actually be much good, because his record is 0-1. ... Lackey has been more successful, as he is 1-1. Pay no attention to his 15.58 ERA and .395 opponents batting average; Lackey "pitches to the score" and "knows how to win".

The Red Sox are 0-6 on the road this year, the only major league team with no road victories. They are also 0-3 in one-run games, one of only two teams with no one-run wins (the Orioles are 0-1).

Gordon Edes shares "an absolutely terrifying stat" about Lackey:

He has given up at least six extra-base hits in each of his first two starts, and if that happens again Tuesday night, he will be only the second pitcher in 90 years to do that three times in a row. Danny Graves did it in 2003, and he went 1-13.

Graves (who went 4-15, not 1-13, in 2003*):
0525 vs FLA: 4 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs (and 4 singles)
0531 vs FLA: 4 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run (and 3 singles)
0605 vs NYY: 5 doubles, 1 home run (and 2 singles)

Lackey:
0402 vs TEX: 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs (and 3 singles)
0408 vs NYY: 4 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run (and 1 single)

* In comments, Jere notes that Graves went 1-13 from May 25 to the end of the season.

AL East: White Sox/Rays at 6:30 PM; and Twins/Orioles and Yankees/Blue Jays at 7 PM.

THT's Chris Jaffe lists the greatest games by Hall of Famers since 1950, according to WPA. In George Brett's game of May 28, 1979, he almost hit for the cycle in extra innings (single in the 10th, double in the 14th, game-winning home run in the 16th)! Brett did hit for the cycle in the game, however; he had a triple back in the third inning.

Bill Petti, Beyond the Box Score, on the Yankees:

When you look at how they've scored their runs and combine that with how their pitchers have performed it's hard to step back and say objectively that this team is among the elite teams in baseball.