The 2018 Red Sox were off to an historic start: 17 wins and 2 losses – great pitching, some amazing come-backs, five grand slams (in twelve games), and a four game lead in the AL East. They rolled into Oakland after sweeping three from the AL's second best team, the Angels (13-6), essentially knocking them into second place in the West. They took game one from the A's, 7-3, after Mitch Moreland's supplied that fifth granny, and the bullpen made a great effort in support of a shaky come-back start by Drew Pomeranz.
So it was with a lot of anticipation that we headed to the Coliseum last night to watch what was, on paper, the marquee pitching match-up of the series: the A's Sean Manaea versus the Red Sox' Chris Sale – two of the league's best lefties.
Manaea started off by walking Mookie Betts, but got Andrew Benintendi to ground into a fielder's choice, then struck out Hanley Ramirez and JD Martinez. Manaea would proceed to keep the Red Sox off the bases except for an error by Marcus Semien on Sandy Leon's bloop pop. Leon would advance as far as second base on a wild pitch, but Manaea would strike out Jackie Bradley Jr to end the threat (JBJ would strike out three times).
The A's would scratch out three runs on Sale; Semien would score all of them. Sale was not in bad form, but despite striking-out ten A's and walking one, he was not his "other-level" super-sharp self.
In the bottom of the ninth, Manaea passed 100 pitches thrown, and was down to his last strike on Benintendi, as the crowd stood and cheered each throw. But Beni worked a full count, then walked to bring Hanley to the plate. But Hanely ground into a fielder's choice to end the game and seal the no-no.
It was tough to watch the Sox lose, but amazing to witness a no-hitter. The energy in the Coliseum was amazing and, of course, Manaea was truly impressive: ten strike-outs, two walks, and only three batters above the minimum.
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