The Athletics were buried 13-1 by the Red Sox on Friday night, and the loss pushed their skid to nine straight games. Boston, meanwhile, stretched its own winning run to nine, turning one lopsided night into a clean split in momentum for two teams headed in opposite directions.
Hours before first pitch, David Forst was fired as the Athletics' long-time general manager, making the result feel even heavier in Boston. The club had no answer for Payton Tolle, who worked six innings, struck out 14 and did not allow a hit or a run through the first four frames, while Jack Perkins lasted three innings and gave up five runs in the second. By the time the night was over, the Athletics had only two hits.
Tyler Soderstrom at least gave the game a pulse. His leadoff solo home run in the fifth inning was the only Athletics run and the only thing that prevented Tolle from carrying a perfect game, a no-hitter and a shutout all the way through. But that swing changed nothing on the scoreboard, because Boston still won by 12 runs and never had to absorb a real threat after the inning began.
That gap is what made the loss so stark. A solo homer that should have been the night's defining moment instead became a footnote in a game that was already out of reach, and the Athletics even sent Carlos Cortes to pitch the ninth. The club's problems also extend beyond one rough night: Perkins has now allowed 11 runs over his past two starts, a shorthand for how quickly the rotation has frayed. The Athletics Nation reaction was blunt: do not let either streak reach double digits tomorrow.
Next comes another chance to stop the slide, with Gage Jump set for his 14th big league start and Jake Bennett lined up for Boston after pitching into the seventh in a Red Sox win in Sacramento last week. If the Athletics are going to keep Friday from becoming the start of something worse, they need more than a better inning or two. They need a result that finally breaks the pattern.
