OAKLAND’S Rajai Davis (11) is tagged trying to stretch a double into a triple after stepping off the bag at third by Boston Red Sox third baseman Deven Marrero during the third inning of a baseball game on Thursday in Oakland, Calif.
Taking the mound with the lead in the second inning after a rough start to the game was just what Sonny Gray needed to get back on track.
“That really kind of got me going and gave me the kick I needed to really try to focus down and put up some zeros,” Gray said. “The offense really bailed me out early tonight. That was huge.”
Gray (1-1) allowed two runs in a 31-pitch first inning in his 100th career start before settling down. Relying heavily on sharp breaking pitches, Gray gave up just one more run the rest of the way, while striking out eight in six innings to give him wins against all 14 other AL teams in his career.
“When he’s punching guys out, that’s the sign that Sonny is Sonny,” catcher Stephen Vogt said. “He’s an ace and aces go out there and punch people out. That’s what he did tonight.”
Chad Pinder added a homer in the fourth inning against Velazquez (0-1), who had a rough first start after spending his first seven years as a pro in the Mexican League.
Staked to a 2-0 lead before taking the mound in his major league debut, the 28- year-old Velazquez fell behind just four batters into the game when he allowed a two-run homer to Lowrie and a solo shot to Davis for Oakland’s first back-to-back homers of the season.
“I thought there might be a little bit better command in the strike zone,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “There were some pitches that stayed up in the middle of the plate that they made him pay for. First time out for him, not making any excuses. This is not a 21- year-old coming up making his debut. It was just more the command within the strike zone.”
After Boston tied the game in the fourth on a solo shot by Mitch Moreland, the A’s went back ahead in the bottom half when Trevor Plouffe hit an RBI double and Pinder followed with a two-run homer on the next pitch to make it 6-3.
Notes — Red Sox: LHP David Price (elbow) and 3B Pablo Sandoval (knee) will begin rehab assignments at Triple-A Pawtucket tonight. Price is expected to throw 85 to 90 pitches and could be activated from the DL next week. “Tomorrow is a big day for him in seeing how he comes out, the number of pitches thrown,” Farrell said. … Athletics: 1B Yonder Alonso sat out after being removed from the game Wednesday in Seattle with a sore left knee. He had an MRI on Thursday that showed no structural damage and will likely miss at least a couple of days. … RHP Daniel Mengden (foot) allowed two runs in six innings and RHP John Axford (shoulder) pitched one scoreless innings in a rehab assignment for Triple-A Nashville.
Empty house — The attendance of 12,016 was the smallest for a Red Sox game in Oakland since the A’s drew 8,221 for a game on May 3, 1999.
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