| Red Sox | 4 |
|---|---|
| A's | 2 |
It’s not as if the Red Sox are on this amazing run, but after the poor play in the month of May, even two straight wins feels like a run. The tone has changed from super negative to somewhat positive after they posted their second straight 4-2 win over the Oakland A’s on Saturday at Fenway Park.
“This is how we envisioned it,” said Mike Napoli. “We had a good game. This is how we should play baseball. We have to keep the momentum going and come out tomorrow and get key hits in key situations. We know we’re capable of doing it.”
Napoli, who went 2 for 3, is now batting .317 with a .419 OBP and .667 slugging in his last 19 games. He was part of a middle of the order that produced all four runs, including a two-run homer by Hanley Ramirez and RBI hits by David Ortiz and Napoli. The middle of the order is finally producing.
“It’s what we’ve done our whole career,” Napoli said.
On Ramirez, who had three hits, “He’s a superstar,” Napoli said. “There’s a lot expected out of him. There’s pressure on him to come through every single time. He’s up to the task.”
The Red Sox’ two wins are part of a resurgence in the AL East, which is starting to play collectively better.
The uptick for the Red Sox, who remain in last place, is coming not only from their starting pitching — Joe Kelly allowed one run in six innings after Wade Miley pitched into the eighth inning Friday night — but also the middle of the batting order.
The Red Sox continued their positive vibe on the field, a day after a horrifying accident involving a female fan who was struck in the face by the shattered bat of Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie.
While much of the pregame consisted of reporters asking players and managers about safety precautions to protect fans, the Red Sox have gone out the past two days and put forth a more consistent effort on both sides of the ball, especially after Thursday’s horrible performance against the Twins.
While eight runs in two games is below the league average of 4.02 runs per game, the Red Sox seem to be inching closer to getting the offense they thought they had when the season began.
Manager John Farrell contniued shuffling his lineup, returning Ortiz to the DH role while giving Sandoval his second straight day off.
Alejando De Aza also got the start in right field. He reached base once on a single and also made a nice running catch. The Red Sox have won three straight games only once this season — during the first week of the season — and will attempt to repeat that Sunday afternoon.
Ramirez homered onto the black tarp in center field with Brock Holt on board after the super utility player singled to right with one out in the first. It was Ramirez’s 13th homer, and third in his last 10 starts.
That gave the Red Sox an early lead and one that Kelly, who is fighting for survival in the rotation, didn’t relinquish. The 27-year-old righthander flashed 98-mile-per-hour heat throughout the outing, but also had good command of his secondary pitches, a perfect mix for the impatient A’s hitters.
“I had good fastball command,” Kelly noted. “That’s really been the difference the last few times out.”
It was Kelly’s second consecutive strong outing. It now appears he will join a five-man rotation that will also include Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Miley, and Eduardo Rodriguez. It would appear that Steven Wright will be moved to the bullpen or optioned to Pawtucket (with the anticipation of Justin Masterson coming off the disabled list soon).
The A’s got a run back in the third when speedy Billy Burns tripled to left-center, scoring Eric Sogard, the No. 9 hitter, who led off the inning with a single. Kelly was able to strand Burns at third when he got Ben Zobrist to ground out to first and struck out the very tough Steven Vogt to end the inning.
The middle of the Sox order expanded the lead for Kelly. Ortiz lined a double off the wall to score Ramirez from first after he had reached on an infield single to shortstop. Napoli followed with a single, scoring Ortiz with the fourth run.
The A’s made it 4-2 on Mark Canha’s solo homer into the Green Monster seats in the seventh off Alexi Ogando, who came on to start the seventh. From then on, the A’s, who have been cooled off by the Sox, never threatened.
The Red Sox have now won six of their last eight home games, another step in their offensive rehab. A terrible home team the past two seasons, the Sox may be turning that around.
Koji Uehara has had some nail-biting performances lately, but he pitched a clean ninth to earn his 13th save in 15 chances after Tommy Layne and Matt Barnes did their job setting him up.
Uehara, who has had a helter/skelter split fingered fastball this season, had it working in the ninth as the A’s went down with ease. Working three consecutive days, Uehara will get the day off Sunday.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.