The Red Sox, who played in Baltimore on Wednesday night, reportedly requested that Thursday’s series opener be moved back to a night game despite the NFL’s Detroit Lions playing across the street at the same time but were denied by the Tigers.Boston is enduring a brutal travel schedule that had them going from Boston on Sunday to Cleveland on Monday afternoon for a makeup game and then onto Baltimore for a quick two-game set before the key series in Detroit that will help determine postseason positioning. The Orioles would start off their 8-game home stand with a loss thanks to the Red Sox and Mookie Betts who accounted for all of their runs in a 5-3 game.
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Betts’ first homer came in the aforementioned fifth inning with two runners on base. Betts came up with two outs and hit a long fly ball to right field, but Chris Davis ran it down to end the inning. “He has 28 homers, leading David Ortiz by one for the club lead”. Yet the right-handed hitting Betts insists there’s no plausible explanation for his success in this ballpark. And I’m not suggesting that the Orioles would do that, I’m just saying that in my view that goes against the spirit of the game and of competition.
“He’s just got hands”, Ross said.
But one of John Farrell’s postgame comments displayed that the Sox understood what was in store for them Wednesday.
“We talk so much about young players moving around the lineup, and he has not changed his approach in the four-hole”, Farrell said. Mookie Betts went 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
Orioles: Manager Buck Showalter expects reliever Darren O’Day (rotator cuff strain) to spend the minimum time on the DL and return on August 27. Should Papelbon sign with Boston, Farrell said he would not be a closer.
The Red Sox were in first place on July 21, then lost 13 of 20 before their current streak of five wins in row.
Rodriguez threw two pitches in the fifth before exiting with left hamstring tightness. The Red Sox hope they caught it early enough to keep the lefty in the rotation without missing a turn.
After starter Eduardo Rodriguez left with an injury in the fifth, Matt Barnes kept the no-hitter alive until Pearce hit a dribbler toward the mound. It was just the batting that was preventing Leon from really hitting his full potential in the league, and it seems that at least for now he found that stride. He launched his second homer, a two-run shot to left off reliever Brad Brach.
Craig Kimbrel, the sixth Boston pitcher, worked a ideal ninth for his 21st save. He walked five, one in each inning, and struck out two while often pitching from behind in the count. With one man on base, Betts destroyed the second pitch, a 94-mph fastball from reliever Brad Bach, sending it to left field bleachers for a 5-3 lead. The Orioles’ 39-19 home record is the best in the AL, but they are 2-4 against Boston at Camden Yards. With Blake Swihart down for the remainder of the season after ankle surgery, Ryan Hannigan on the disabled list and Christian Vazquez in the minors the Sox need Leon to keep this up.
But we also know that this Orioles squad is a resilient bunch, so let’s not rule out a surge in form after falling to third place in the division for just the first time this season.
Gallardo gave up three runs on four hits in five innings, all of the runs coming on the Betts homer in the fifth.
Jonathan Schoop notched a single off of Price to start the bottom of the sixth inning.
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Baltimore managed only four hits off David Price before a rainstorm stopped play for good after six innings, and the Boston Red Sox pounded rookie Dylan Bundy in an 8-1 victory Wednesday night.
