Eovaldi got the ball in the top of the first inning and got hammered. Jonathan Villar doubled high off the Monster before moving to third on a wild pitch by Sandy Leon. Trey Mancini drew a walk but Anthony Santander hit one up the elevator shaft. Naturally Reynato Nunez smashed a 3,000 foot bomb to put Baltimore up early. Jace Peterson flied out to the wall in center and Hanser Alberto lined back to Eovaldi to end the inning but it was already 3-0.
Orioles starter Ty Black cruised in the bottom of the first inning as Mr. Mookie Betts whiffed on a fastball 10 feet over his head. Rafael Devers kept up his hot streak with a double to center but Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short. JD Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning.
The O's struck again in the top of the second when Chris Davis walked. Stevie Wilkerson whiffed but Chance Sisco advanced Davis to second with a ground out. A wild pitch moved Davis to third before Villar walked and stole second. Mancini singled home Villar and Davis but was thrown out at second trying to stretch to end the inning with the O's ahead 5-0. That was it for Eovaldi who was an unmitigated disaster in his return to the rotation, allowing 5 runs in just 2 innings.
Andrew Benintendi grounded out to second to open the bottom of the second before Sam Travis popped up to Alberto. Christian Vazquez walked but Sandy Leon whiffed to end the inning.
Darwinzon Hernandez came in for the top of the third and got tagged. Santander looked at strike three but Nunez was plunked. Peterson whiffed but Alberto doubled home Nunez to increase the lead. Davis walked but Wilkerson struck out to end the inning with the O's up 6-0.
Things looked bleak but the Sox started their comeback in the bottom of the third when Chris Owings walked to start. Mr. Mookie doubled Owings to third and he scored on the Devers ground out. Betts took third on that play then scored on the grounder to the mound by Bogaerts. Martinez lined out to center to end the inning but it was 6-2 O's.
Ryan Brasier made his return from the injured list in the top of the fourth inning by striking out Sisco to start. Villar walked and stole second but Mancini whiffed. Santander hit a grounder to Devers who tagged out to Villar to end the inning. The Sox got one back in the bottom of the fourth although Benintendi whiffed to start. Travis belted his 6th home run of the season to dead center but Vazquez whiffed. Leon looked at strike three to end the inning with the Sox own 6-3.
Josh Taylor came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Nunez flied out to left to begin. Peterson grounded out to second but Alberto singled. Davis singled but Wilkerson whiffed to end the inning. Owings whiffed to start the bottom of the fifth before Mr. Mookie flied out to center. Devers singled to left but Bogaerts lined out to right to end the inning.
Marcus Walden (8-2, 3.34 ERA) came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Sisco flied out to center to begin. Villar singled to left but Mancini flied out to right. Villar took second on a balk but Santander lined out to center to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the bottom of the sixth as Martinez led off with a double to left. Benintendi flied out to center but Martinez moved to third before Travis walked to put runners at the corners. That was it for Blach as Gabriel Ynoa came in to pitch to Vazquez. Christian doubled home Martinez and that was it for Ynoa. Paul Fry came in as Moreland pinch hit for Leon and hit a routine pop up to short but the third basemen, left fielder and shortstop all stared at the ball as it dropped in. Villar fired home as Travis made a mad dash and Davis mistakenly tried to cut the throw off, the ball bouncing off his glove to the backstop. Travis wiped out Sisco as he scored and Vazquez came in behind him to score the tying run on the error. Moreland took second on the bad throw but Owings whiffed. Mr. Mookie walked and the red hot Devers doubled off the Monster to score Moreland with the go-ahead run. Bogaerts then fouled a ball off the nutsack of Sisco, dropping him to the ground. After Sisco was carried out in a wheelbarrow, Pedro Severino came in to replace the battered catcher. Bogaerts beat out an infield single to second to score Betts and move Devers to third. Shawn Martinez replaced Fry as JD Martinez hit a routine grounder to first but nobody covered second. JD beat out the throw to first to score Bogaerts and Benintendi walked to load the bases. Travis looked at strike three to end the inning but the Sox scored 6 runs in the inning to take the lead 9-6.
Vazquez moved to behind the plate with Moreland taking over at first with Andrew Cashner now on the mound in the top of the seventh. Nunez whiffed but Peterson singled to right. Alberto banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox iced it in the bottom of the seventh as Vazquez singled to left to begin and Moreland singled him to third. Owings earned a hat trick with his third strikeout before Mr. Mookie scored Vazquez with a sac fly. Devers continued his surge for AL MVP as he launched his 27th home run of the season just inside the foul pole, passing 100 rbi's for the season. Bogaerts hit a liner to center but Wilkerson dove and the ball hit off his glove, then his face. He threw to second and had Xander cold...but Villar dropped the ball and he was safe. Martinez hit a seeing eye single up the middle to score Bogaerts. Benintendi popped up to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 13-6.
Travis Lakins came in for the top of the eighth and Davis whiffed to start. Wilkerson flied out to center and Severino popped up to short to end the inning. Mychal Givens came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Travis grounded out to second to start. Vazquez whiffed but Moreland singled to center. Owings flied out to right to end the inning.
Marco Hernandez gave Bogaerts the rest of the day off but played second with Owings moving to short for the top of the ninth. Villar looked at strike three before Mancini hit a routine grounder to third. Devers threw to first but Moreland had his glove on the wrong hand and missed the catch for an error. Santander singled to left as a wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position. Nunez hit a sac fly to score Mancini to wrap up the scoring Peterson grounded out to first to end the game. The Sox had won their 5th game in a row and swept the Orioles with a 13-7 win.
Hero of the Night is Rafael Devers. The hottest hitter in baseball went 4 for 5 with 4 total rbis, 2 runs scored and a 2 run home run.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 3 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored.
Mitch Moreland was 3 for 3 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless inning.
Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless inning.
Marcus Walden got the win with a scoreless 6th inning.
Andrew Cashner pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
Sandy Leon was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Nathan Eovaldi gave up 5 runs in just 2 innings of work.
Darwinzon Hernandez allowed a run in the third inning.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 but drew a walk.
Sam Travis was just 1 for 4 but walked, scored twice and hit a home run.
Chris Owings was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked.
Travis Lakins allowed an unearned run in 2 innings of work.
Honorable Mention:
Marco Hernandez played second base in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox stayed alive in the wild card race by sweeping the Orioles in this series. The fact Nathan Eovaldi sucked is alarming considering the potential season ending injury to Chris Sale and the temporary loss of David Price. The rotation is in shambles with only Eduardo Rodriguez and Rick Porcello the only healthy starters. The Sox may end up not making the playoffs but they're going to die trying. Alex Cora refuses to throw in the towel and if Devers turns into Carl Yastrezmsky circa 1967 the wild card race may not be over yet. As for this game, it was a good comeback but it was against the awful Orioles. Devers has been incredible all season and if he can keep up the pace in September, he may walk away with AL MVP. All in all a win is a win and it improves the Sox to 67-59, 6.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the second wild card spot. The Sox return to action Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Phillies. Phillies ace Aaron Nola goes for them while the Sox counter with Brian Johnson at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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