News came before the game when Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves was once again sent back to Pawtucket in favor of Alex Wilson. This gave the Sox another arm in the bullpen in case the game went into extras....which it did.
Shane Victorino struck a one out single to begin the bottom of the first but Dustin Pedroia hit into a double play to end the inning. Red Sox starter Felix Doubront was tough to begin the bottom of the first. Nate McLouth popped up, Manny Machado grounded out and Nick Markakis struck out to end the inning.
Mike Napoli doubled with one out in the top of the second but Orioles starter Kevin Gausman struck out Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to end the inning. Doubront hit Chris Davis with a pitch with one out in the bottom of the second then got the next two batters to finish the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the 3rd and the O's struck big time in the bottom of the inning. Danny Valencia led off with a home run to left field and Ryan Flaherty doubled. McLouth sacrifice bunted Flaherty to third who scored on the Machado single. Markakis singled but was erased on the Adam Jones force which also moved Machado to third. Davis singled home Machado to up the lead 3-0 before Matt Wieters struck out to end the inning.
Could the Sox respond in the top of the 4th? YES! After 2 men were out, David Ortiz crushed a mammoth 420 foot home run to dead center. Napoli had to leave the game due to illness and Mike Carp pinch hit for him. Mike crushed a home run to center as well but this barely cleared the wall at 409 feet. Just like that, back to back jacks cut the lead 3-2. Nava flied out to end the inning.
Could Doubront hold the fort with the lead now down to 1? Valencia doubled with one out but Doubront struck out the next two batters to retire the side. With momentum now swinging to Boston, they missed a golden chance to tie the game in the top of the 5th. Will Middlebrooks doubled with one out but PU Drew lined out and Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to end the threat. The O's chased Felix in the bottom of the 5th. Machado flied out to right but then Middlebrooks booted a ground ball by Markakis for his team leading 8th error of the season. What should have been no on with 2 out, the O's jumped on Doubront with new life. Jones was hit with a pitch but Davis struck out. All he needed was one more out but he wouldn't get it as Wieters singled home Markakis to increase the lead 4-2. JJ Hardy walked to load the bases and Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough, pulling Doubront for lefty Franklin Morales. Once again a Sox starter failed to go 6 innings after Lester's disaster the other day.
Morales got Valencia on a pop up to end the threat. Dustin Pedroia singled with one out in the top of the 6th to chase Gausman from the game. As a spot starter, 5 innings and 2 runs isn't that bad which makes the Sox offense look pathetic. Brian Matusz relieved Gausman and retired the next two batters in order. McLouth and Machado hit back to back 1 out singles in the bottom of the 6th but Morales retired the next two batters to escape trouble.
The Sox struck back in the top of the 7th. They loaded the bases with 3 straight singles from Nava, Salty and Middlebrooks. All PU Drew had to do was put the ball into play and he did it, scoring Nava with a sac fly and advancing Salty to third. Ellsbury then beat out a double play ball that scored Salty to tie the game. Tommy Hunter replaced Matusz and caught a break when Wieters threw out Ellsbury trying to steal for the third out.
Hot lefty Andrew Miller relieved Morales and managed to work around a walk to strike out the side impressively in the bottom of the 7th.
The Sox could muster nothing against Hunter in the top of the 8th. Miller worked around a walk in the bottom of the 8th to retire the side. The Sox once again went cold in the top of the 9th against Hunter. With the game now on the line, Farrell turned to Juinchi Tazawa to keep the Sox in the game in the bottom of the 9th. Matt Wieters singled with 2 out and advanced to second on the bobble by Victorino, Shane's first error all year. Taz got Hardy out to end the inning and it was off to extra innings.
Ellsbury reached first on catcher's interference and stole second with 2 outs in the top of the 10th off reliever Darren O'Day and how did Victorino fare with a chance to redeem himself? He struck out of course.
Tazawa got Valencia to open the bottom of the 10th and Farrell wanted the lefty matchup, so he brought in Craig Breslow to face Flaherty, who he struck out. McLouth walked but Machado grounded into a force to end the inning. After Pedroia grounded out, O's manager Buck Showalter pulled O'Day for Troy Patton who retired the next 2 batters. Recently returned rookie Alex Wilson took over in the bottom of the 11th and pitched a perfect inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the 12th and Wilson worked around a 2 out double to pinch hitter Chris Dickerson to extend the game. The Sox went quietly in the 13th inning against TJ McFarland and they have now gone hitless since the 7th inning. Wilson began to tire in the bottom of the 13th. McLouth struck out and Machado grounded to third. The 14th inning looked in sight but Baltimore quickly put the game away with a walk to Markakis, a single to Jones and a bloop single by Davis to finish it. The O's had prevailed 5-4 in 13 innings.
THE GOOD:
Not much here. Mike Napoli doubled before leaving with illness. Mike Carp took over for him and was 1 for 3 including his 7th home run of the year. Franklin Morales pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Andrew Miller pitched 2 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts. Junichi Tazawa pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Craig Breslow retired 2 of the 3 batters he faced.
THE BAD:
Jackass of the night could have gone to either Felix Doubront or Shane Victorino but I'll go with Doubront. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings, gave up 4 runs on 7 hits and a walk and ultimately forced the Red Sox bullpen to pitch the next 9 innings.
Victorino ended up just 1 for 6, committed an error and struck out twice, including a rally killer in the 10th. Jonny Gomes pinch hit in the top of the 11th and failed to reach. Dustin Pedroia was just 1 for 5 including lining into a double play.
THE UGLY:
Everyone else really. Jacoby Ellsbury was 0 for 5 and was caught stealing, however, he drove in the tying run in the 7th with a fielder's choice then stole his 30th base of the year in the top of the 10th. David Ortiz was just 1 for 5 but the one hit was his 14th home run of the season. Daniel Nava was just 1 for 5 but scored a run in the 7th. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was just 1 for 5 but scored the tying run in the 7th. Will Middlebrooks was just 2 for 5 and committed his 8th error of the year but one of his singles was during the rally. Alex Wilson pitched 2 2/3 perfect innings before running out of the gas and taking the loss. He drops to 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA, not bad for a rookie.
Final Thoughts:
Can't win them all. This one was frustrating but understandable as the Sox didn't get a single hit after the 7th inning and didn't even have a baserunner in the final 3 innings. Alex Wilson ran out of gas and the Sox didn't want to use Koji Uehara back to back. The Sox appear to be heading for trouble big time. Lester is pitching like crap, Buchholz keeps having his next start pushed back, Dempster and Lackey are .500 pitchers and Doubront can't go 7 to save his life. That is not a recipe for success. The loss dropped them to 41-27, 2 1/2 games in front of the O's. Ryan Dempster takes the mound tomorrow night looking to right the ship. Extra inning losses are painful, but having your rotation shaky is even more disconcerting.
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