Pain in the Neck
Daisuke Matsuzaka tallied only three outs even though he faced nine batters. Two batters, Josh Reddick and Brandon Moss, homered. Unsurprisingly, the pitcher ended up on the disabled list. The stated injury was a strained right trapezius, the muscle that extends from the neck to the shoulder. Mauro Gomez was called up to replace the ailing hurler.
Reddick was part of the package sent to Oakland for Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney this past offseason. Moss was part of the three-way deal between the Dodgers, the Pirates, and the Red Sox in which Manny Ramirez went to Los Angeles and Jason Bay came to Fenway.
At least Coco Crisp kept it down to a dull roar by going 0-3 with a base on balls.
| Game 80: July 2, 2012 | ||
| Boston Red Sox 42-38 |
1 |
L: Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-3) |
| 2B: Daniel Nava (16) | ||
 Oakland Athletics39-42 |
6 |
W: Jarrod Parker (5-3) |
| 2B: Seth Smith (13) HR: Josh Reddick (19), Brandon Moss (9) | ||
