Mengden (1-6) lasted only 2.2 innings after giving up seven runs on eight hits and two walks, while striking out two in Saturday's loss to the Red Sox.
Even pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum couldn't do much to limit the damage the league's best offense had off the recent call-up. Most of the hemorrhaging came in the third inning, but it was only a matter of time until the effective Red Sox offense took advantage of the 23-year-old's lack of control (he only threw roughly half of his pitches for strikes). Mengden has managed to maintain the high strikeout rate he had in the minors, but that's been his only redeeming quality thus far in the majors. Mengden's already been demoted once this season - after a rough five-start stretch in July - but assuming he makes his next scheduled start, he'll take the mound again Friday at home against the Mariners. All of his five remaining scheduled starts are against offenses in the top half of the league in run production.