Boston, MA – David Ortiz hit two solo home runs, Mike Aviles added a three-run blast and the Red Sox defeated the Athletics, 11-6, on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.
Aviles finished with four RBI and Darnell McDonald went 3-for-4 with a double and a two-run homer for Boston, which was coming off a 6-1 road trip.
"Hitting is contagious," said McDonald. "I've been watching these guys tear the cover off the ball for the last couple of weeks and it feels good to come in and contribute."
Clay Buchholz (3-1) earned the win, allowing six runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out five over 6 2/3 innings.
Josh Reddick had a three-run homer for the Athletics, losers of three straight. Tommy Milone (3-2) was charged with eight runs -- seven earned -- on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Oakland struck first, taking a 1-0 lead on Cliff Pennington's RBI single in the second, but the Red Sox scored the game's next 11 runs to pull away.
Ortiz began off the bottom of the second with a shot to right. It was 4-1 by the end of the inning courtesy of RBI singles from Marlon Byrd and Aviles and an error by A's second baseman Jemile Weeks, which allowed Aviles to cross the plate.
In the third, McDonald followed Ortiz's leadoff walk with a one-out homer to deep left-center, and Boston pushed five across in the fifth to make it 11-1.
Again Ortiz was the catalyst, sending a one-out shot to right, which bounced off the glove of Reddick before clearing the wall along with the right fielder.
Later in the frame, McDonald chased Milone with a two-out single before scoring on Byrd's double to center. After a Nick Punto walk, Aviles lifted a homer to left.
The A's cut their deficit to 11-6 in the seventh on Coco Crisp's two-out, two- run single and Reddick's subsequent blast to right, but Daric Barton struck out with the bases loaded later in the inning to end the threat.
Oakland loaded the bases again in the eighth, but Reddick grounded into an inning-ending double play.
"I felt like we were getting back in that game, we had momentum on our side," said Reddick. "We quickly turned it around, it just wasn't enough."
Game Notes
Buchholz has received at least seven runs of support in four of his five starts this season...Earlier Monday, Oakland officially agreed to terms with veteran third baseman Brandon Inge. The 34-year-old had played all 12 of his major league seasons with the Tigers, but was released last week. He went 1- for-3 against Boston on Monday.
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