The league's best pitching staff got whacked around like a pinata. The bats went all but silent. And the Sox defense committed two errors that cleared the way for six unearned runs as the A's romped in a 15-2 laugher before 35,438 at Fenway Park.
"I guess this is too much to ask, but this was probably televised, right?" Francona said. "Just a bad night, a tough night."
It was a night when the neon lights above the park might have been better suited flashing "SOS," as the Sox absorbed their most lopsided defeat since June 19, 2000, when the Yankees pummeled them, 22-1. The Sox surrendered the most runs in the Fens since July 24, when the Devil Rays thrashed them, 15-9. They also coughed up 17 hits, matching their season high.
The loss was so ugly, in fact, that the Sox spiraled to a 12-0 deficit by the fourth inning, marking the first time since July 23, 1999, in Detroit that an opponent has run up at least 12 runs without the Sox scoring.
"Right from the get-go things didn't go our way, and it got worse as the game progressed," Francona said. "The good news is that nobody got hurt."
Yet no one wanted to forget the experience more than Sox starter Bronson Arroyo, who got tagged for nine runs (six earned) on seven hits, including a two-run blast by Eric Chavez, and two walks over just 3 1/3 innings.
"It's tough to forget games like this," said Arroyo, who dropped to 2-2 while his ERA jumped from 4.10 to 5.00. "They happen every single year, a couple times. But it's still tough to swallow."
There were plenty others eager to sleep off the ugliness. Notable among them were Reese, whose second-inning error opened the door for three unearned runs, and third baseman Kevin Youkilis, whose seventh-inning miscue enabled the A's to score three more unearned runs.
"I'm going to just get to the point," Reese said. "We made the errors, they cashed in, and they beat our butt."
