G42: Athletics 8, Red Sox 3

Red Sox   - 020 010 000 - 3  7  1
Athletics - 020 051 00x - 8 11  1

Drew Pomeranz (4-5-2-2-6) had thrown 97 pitches in four innings (24-32-17 24), so manager John Farrell decided to go to the bullpen.

That was a big mistake.

Ben Taylor faced four batters and they all reached base (and all eventually scored). Mark Canha started the inning with a game-tying home run. Jed Lowrie singled and Khris Davis went deep for a two-run dong. Trevor Plouffe walked - and Taylor was gone. Noe Ramirez took over and got Ryon Healy to ground out, but Chad Pinder connected for a two-run homer, giving Oakland a 7-3 lead.

The three home runs in the fifth inning were also the three longest of the year for the Athletics: Pinder (483 feet), Canha (454), and Davis (435). Pinder's shot was the longest by any player this season - and the longest by an Oakland player since ESPN began tracking HRs in 2009.

Hanley Ramirez hit his sixth home run of the year in the second inning. He had two hits, as did Dustin Pedroia and Chris Young. The Red Sox had no walks for only the second game this year; the other game was on April 27, a 3-0 loss to the Yankees.

The Red Sox are now 21-21, the first time they have not been over .500 since April 14, when they were 5-5. Boston has also lost three games in a row for the first time this year.

Drew Pomeranz / Sean Manaea

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ramirez, DH
Young, LF
Benintendi, CF
Rutledge, 1B
Vazquez, C
Marrero, 3B

Over 41 games, the Red Sox (21-20) have won as many as two consecutive games only five times, and have won more than two consecutive games only once: April 3-5 (2 games), April 15-18 (4 games), May 2-3 (2 games), May 6-7 (2 games), and May 16-17 (2 games). On the plus side, their longest losing streak has been only two games (it's happened 5 times).

Pomeranz left his last start after three innings because of tightness in his left triceps.

MLB.com: "Mookie Betts has put the ball in play on about 56 percent of his swings this season. Of the nearly 200 hitters who have taken at least 200 swings, he's the only one above 52 percent in that category."

Last night: Jackie Bradley robs Ryon Healy of a game-winning home run.

Chris Sale, on his streak of eight starts with 10+ strikeouts:

I'd rather be 8-0 with no punchouts, honestly. Peripheral stats don't matter in this game. I know people love to crunch numbers and talk about this and that. They're flashy, they're cool, but at the end of the day, they don't matter. They really don't. Other than your win-loss record for your team, every other stat doesn't matter.

Umm, no*. How about "Other than your team's win-loss record, every other stat doesn't matter"?

*: While I know what he means, I am also confident that he understands a win-loss record is never an accurate reflection of a pitcher's performance. For example, Derek Holland is 3-3 and Trevor Bauer is 4-4, but their respective ERAs are 2.70 (8th best in the AL) and 6.65 (48th, next to last). And in the NL, Gerrit Cole is 2-4, 2.84 and Wily Peralta is 5-2, 5.79.