Resilient Sox drop 'crazy game' to A's in 12

OAKLAND -- It was a game that neither team could seem to win. Chances were blown. Opportunities were squandered. Afternoon gave way to night. A beer snake made a revolution around the stadium. But after 4 1/2 hours, Boston couldn’t prevail, snapping its winning streak at eight games.

The Red Sox fell to the A’s in a 12-inning marathon, losing 7-6 on Saturday at the Coliseum after Oakland scored three runs to best Boston's two plated in the top of the frame.

Given the game’s various twists and turns, manager Alex Cora’s brief summary was encompassing: "It was a crazy game," he said.

A crazy game that Boston was in prime position to win, too. After Marwin Gonzalez and Enrique Hernández knocked in a pair of runs in the top of the 12th, the Red Sox looked on their way to winning their ninth straight game and second extra-innings contest in as many days. They just needed three outs, which felt very possible given that the A’s had stranded many baserunners throughout the evening.

But with their backs to the wall, the A’s finally rediscovered the clutch gene against reliever Matt Andriese. Seth Brown knocked home a run to put the A’s within one. Jed Lowrie one-hopped the left-field wall with a double, plating the tying run. Then, Tony Kemp, whose error contributed to a pair of Red Sox runs earlier in the game, hit the game-winning sacrifice fly.

Interestingly enough, the game was more or less decided on a fly ball hit to Hernández with Brown on third base, repeating a scenario from Friday night's win that went in Boston's favor. This time, the script was flipped.

On Friday, Hernández threw out Brown at the plate on a sacrifice fly attempt in the bottom of the 10th inning, helping seal the Red Sox’s eventual 3-2 victory. A little less than 24 hours later, both parties were in just about the same spot. This time, the ball hit to Hernández was just a little too deep, although he made the play close with a perfect throw home. Cora said he was surprised that Hernández made it a play.

In an ideal world, either Matt Barnes or Garrett Whitlock would’ve been on for the save, but neither reliever was available on Saturday. Barnes had pitched in four of the last five games heading into play and only would’ve been used in an emergency, while Whitlock pitched two innings on Friday.

With those two arms down and several other relievers, mainly Adam Ottavino, already having been used, the onus to lock down the game fell on Andriese, who was dinged for three runs (two earned).

The build-up to that final inning was wrought with missed opportunities on both sides.

In the top of the 10th, Danny Santana was thrown out at third base trying to steal after starting the inning on second base.

In the bottom of the 10th, the A’s had a golden opportunity to push across the winning run, loading the bases with no outs. Kemp tried to put down a suicide squeeze, but popped it up to pitcher Brandon Workman. Then, for a second straight game, the A’s decided to test Boston’s outfield.

Elvis Andrus lined one right at J.D. Martinez, whose momentum brought him inwards. Sean Murphy bolted for home. Martinez fired a one-hop strike to catcher Christian Vázquez who applied the tag to give Boston its league-leading 26th outfield assist of the season and push the game onward yet again.

The sequence was a microcosm of the game's ups and downs, ultimately won by Oakland.

Lost in the shuffle of the late-game dramatics was a solid start by Garrett Richards, who allowed two earned runs across five innings, escaping a few potential rallies along the way.

It was a much-needed start to the month for the right-hander, whose final four starts of June were brutal. He allowed 17 earned runs across 16 2/3 innings (earning a 9.18 ERA in that span). Richards admitted after his start against the Royals that he was “trying to figure how to pitch again” after no longer being able to use a combination of rosin and sunscreen for pitch grips due to MLB's new rules regarding banned substances, but the strength of Saturday's performance indicated he's since rediscovered his way.