Rewind: Red Sox Make It Another Long Night for A's Pitchers

OAKLAND - A's pitchers simply can't avoid the slippery slope when it comes to facing the Red Sox.

One minute they've got things under control and the A's are within reasonable striking distance against Boston. The next minute, things turn ugly on the scoreboard.

It happened again Saturday night, with the Red Sox striking fast and decisively in a seven-run third inning that paved the way to an 11-2 rout at the Coliseum.

A's manager Bob Melvin talked before the game about what makes the Red Sox so tough.

"You can't make mistakes to these guys," he said. "And it's one after another. There's just not a pause or even a breath against this lineup. They're just relentless."

[STIGLICH: Instant Replay: Mengden done early, A's routed again by Sox]

The Red Sox grind out at-bats. They wear down pitchers until they make a mistake, and when that mistake comes, they don't miss.

A's rookie Daniel Mengden, called up to make his first big league start since July 25, gave up two runs in the first. He got two quick outs in the third before the avalanche hit. Hanley Ramirez homered, Sandy Leon doubled, Chris Young walked, Yoan Moncada doubled down the left field line to score two (aided by Khris Davis' error) and Jackie Bradley Jr.'s single scored another to turn a 2-0 A's deficit into 5-0.

That was it for Mengden, who wound up charged with seven runs over 2 2/3 innings. After he was sent back to Triple-A Nashville on July 26 in order to give his fatigued pitching arm some rest, the A's would like these final four-plus weeks to be a time for the 23-year-old Mengden to rediscover his confidence against major league hitters.

Problem is, Boston's major league hitters are a tough bunch to do that against.

"I felt good, maybe I was just falling behind a little too much," Mengden said. "You never want to give a team like that good counts and places to do damage. I fell behind a few times and thought I made a few pitches even when I was behind, and they still hit it."

Melvin said he didn't see fatigue being an issue for Mengden on Saturday.

"I saw a couple of 94s, some 93s," Melvin said of Mengden's velocity. "What they did is they made him work, and that's what they do. When they're swinging the bat and fouling balls off they make you throw a ton of pitches. … (But) I thought his stuff looked more like it was when he first got here."

The A's have gotten just 3 2/3 innings combined from their starters in the first two games of this series (Andrew Triggs left after one inning Friday with a back injury). In such cases, it's important for a manager to find at least one reliever who can eat up a large chunk of innings and prevent him from having to burn through the entire bullpen.

Luckily for Melvin, he had that man Saturday in Chris Smith, who held the Sox to just one unearned run over four innings bridging the fifth and the ninth. It was the best performance as an Athletic for the 35-year-old Smith, who hadn't pitched in the majors since 2010 before being recalled by the A's on Aug. 7.

"I can't say enough about Chris Smith, not just tonight," Melvin said. "We didn't have to use some of our guys that we hope to use tomorrow. He's a guy that enjoys being at the ballpark every day based on the fact where he's at in his career. He's in a great mood every day. It's great for the younger guys to see."

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