But before the two teams on very different paths were to meet the next day, the A's gained something very important that the Red Sox did not — a good night's sleep.
Because it played a day game in New York, Oakland arrived in Boston in time for a late dinner. The Sox got in from Texas as the sun came up the next day (in time for an early breakfast?), had a late arrival at the park and then had a hard time keeping up with a rested A’s team that has actually played pretty good baseball in the second half of the season.
Oakland pounded out 16 hits and took advantage of a handful of misplays to send Boston to its third straight loss at home, a 15-5 drubbing. It got so bad that Red Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald made his first pitching appearance since high school in the ninth, allowing the A’s final two runs of the night.
All this before a quick trip back to the park for a condensed doubleheader Saturday. When it came to assess the damage of the dizzying stretch for the Red Sox, there was no need to split hairs.
"It was a bad day. We got our [butts] kicked," said David Ortiz, who provided one of the few Boston highlights with a solo homer in the fourth.
The Red Sox will not use the fatigue factor as an excuse, but it seemed to play a part. Oakland hitters were aggressive from the start against Tim Wakefield and continued their abuse against Matt Albers in the eighth, and then McDonald, who walked two before giving up a wall-scraping two-run double to Josh Willingham.
Meanwhile, Boston looked listless at times. There was only one error committed (Jed Lowrie in the fourth), but other plays in the field that lacked cleanliness. Mike Aviles, playing his first career game in left field, was shaky, understandably so. Marco Scutaro dropped a catchable liner out of his glove at one point. Jarrod Saltalamacchia lost a Wakefield knuckler on what could’ve been the final strike and out of the fourth, allowing the runner to reach and extending the frame.
Oakland scored four more in that inning.
That kind of stuff happens all the time with Wakefield on the mound. Still, Saltalamacchia recognized that the overall effort is not easy under the weary circumstances.
"Getting in at 5:30 in the morning and having a game and then a doubleheader the next day, it’s tough," Saltalamacchia said. "This time of year we don’t need guys getting injured, so we've got to play it smart, go out there tomorrow and take it one game at a time."
This isn't the first time this has happened to the Red Sox. After playing a Sunday night game in Detroit in May that featured a rain delay, they returned home in the wee hours of the next day and proceeded to get swept three straight by the Chicago White Sox, looking at times like the club we saw Friday at Fenway.
Because the quick doubleheader on Saturday places both teams in a compromised position, the hope is that the playing field will be leveled. In the eyes of the Red Sox, there is an opportunity for a quick turnaround.
"We just got knocked around pretty well," manager Terry Francona said. "We're not, I won't say on fumes, but everyone's a little tired. But we've got a full day of baseball tomorrow. Just play a good day of baseball then we’ll have a couple of days off and regroup. We'll be OK."
Aviles echoed the "no excuse" mantra.
"You're going to be a little tired when you get home at five in the morning, but that's no excuse," he said. "You've still got to come out and play the game … We're all professional athletes. You can't really use that as an excuse. It's one of those deals where you just tip your cap to the other team. Tonight they were the better team."
And perhaps the more rested one.
