For five innings the Boston Red Sox were cruising against the Baltimore Orioles. They had a 5-0 lead with the exclamation point being a Triston Casas two run home run. Kutter Crawford was throwing a shutout....and then Cora pulled Crawford. The O's pounced on the Boston bullpen for SEVEN runs in the next two innings, pounding Isaiah Campbell and Chris Martin. A three run home run by Jordan Westburg in the seventh inning off Martin put the O's up for good. The Sox had just two baserunners the rest of the way and the O's won it 7-5 at Fenway Park.
Crawford got the ball in the top of the first inning and Gunnar Henderson flied out to center to start. Adley Rutschman struck out swinging and Anthony Santander popped up to third. Irvin got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jarren Duran got a base hit to left to start. Tyler O'Neill walked but Rafael Devers struck out swinging and Triston Casas grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Ryan O'Hearn lined out to center to start the top of the second before Ryan Mountcastle popped up to first. Cedric Mullins struck out swinging to end the inning. Romy Gonzalez started with a walk to start the bottom of the second but Pablo Reyes flied out to right. Masataka Yoshida hit into a double play to end the inning.
Colton Cowser walked to begin the top of the third but Jordan Westburg flied out to left. Jackson Holliday struck out swinging but Cowser stole second. Henderson took strike three to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the third as Connor Wong flied out to center to start. Ceddanne Rafaela struck out swinging but Duran got a base hit to left. O'Neill hit a pop up in no man's land that fell in, scoring Duran on a mad dash to home. Devers flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
Rutschman grounded out to short to start the top of the fourth but Santander popped up to third. O'Hearn walked, Mountcastle grounded a base hit up the middle and Mullins walked to load the bases. Cowser struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Santander failed to come up with a bloop single by Casas to start. Gonzalez got a base hit to right but Reyes took strike three. Yoshida grounded out to first to move the runners over but Wong got a clutch base hit to right to score both of them. Rafaela grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
Crawford barely survived the top of the fifth as Westburg was hit with a pitch to start. Holliday forced him at second and Henderson walked. Rutschman struck out swinging but Santander singled in the hole at short to load the bases. With the count full....O'Hearn grounded out to first to end the inning. That was it for Crawford as he tossed 5 shutout innings allowing just 2 hits but 4 walks.
The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Duran grounded back to the mound to start. O'Neill took strike three but Devers drew a walk. Casas belted his second home run of the year to increase the lead before Gonzalez grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox up 5-0.
The Orioles tee'd off on Isaiah Campbell in the top of the sixth as Mountcastle got a base hit to right to start. Mullins got a base hit to right....booted by O'Neill for an error to move both runners over. Cowser ripped a base hit to left and Westburg doubled to left, then Holliday grounded out to second to score Cowser. Henderson hit a bullet but right to Reyes and Rutschman grounded out to first to end the inning but the O's were back in it down 5-3.
The Sox failed to respond in the bottom of the sixth as Mike Baumann came in to pitch. Wilyer Abreu pinch hit for Reyes and struck out swinging before Yoshida singled to right. Wong and Rafaela both struck out swinging to end the inning.
Chris Martin came in to crap his pants in the top of the seventh inning as Santander flied out to center to start. O'Hearn singled to left and took second on a passed ball. Mountcastle walked and a wild pitch moved O'Hearn to third. Wong interfered with Mullins to load the bases and another wild pitch scored O'Hearn. Cowser struck out swinging but Westburg hit a back breaking three run homer to put the O's up for good. Holliday struck out swinging to end the inning with the O's up 7-5.
O's complete the comeback
Keegan Akin came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Duran struck out swinging to start. O'Neill went down hacking but Devers walked. Casas took strike three to end the inning.
Brennan Bernardino came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Henderson tripled into the triangle to start. Bernardino managed to strike out both Rutschman and Santander swinging before Austin Hays pinch hit for O'Hearn. Hays lined out to a running Duran to end the inning, good work Bernardino. Cowser made a great jumping catch to rob Gonzalez of a Monster double to start the bottom of the eighth and Abreu took strike three. Yoshida flied out to left to end the inning.
Mountcastle grounded out to second to start the top of the ninth before Mullins took strike three. Cowser grounded out to first to end the inning. Old friend Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel returned to Fenway for the first time since Game 2 of the 2018 World Series to close out the bottom of the ninth. Reese McGuire pinch hit for Wong and struck out swinging and David Hamilton pinch hit for Rafaela. Hamilton also struck out swinging and Duran grounded out to third to end the game. The O's had came back to win 7-5.
Jackass of the Night is Chris Martin. He allowed four runs to take the loss including the backbreaking three run homer.
The Good:
Jarren Duran was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Tyler O'Neill was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Rafael Devers walked twice in four plate appearances and scored a run.
Triston Casas was 2 for 4 with a 2 run home run and two total runs scored.
Romy Gonzalez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Connor Wong was 1 for 3 with 2 rbis.
Kutter Crawford pitched 5 shutout innings.
Brennan Bernardino tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Pablo Reyes was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Reese McGuire struck out in his only plate appearance.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
David Hamilton struck out as a pinch hitter.
Isaiah Campbell was lit up for 3 runs in the sixth inning.
The Ugly:
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Looks like it took the AL East to snap the Sox back to reality. The Sox had a five run lead evaporate in the span of two innings and the offense went right to sleep. Campbell looked solid the first couple of games he pitched and Martin was a rock last year. Its only two games but combining the season ending injuries to Nick Pivetta and Trevor Story, the vibes about this team are gone. Only 26,000 fans showed up and if the Sox are who we thought they were, even less will be showing up moving forward. Who'd want to pay the highest ticket prices in the league to watch a last place team? Cora is a lame duck as well because there's been zero talks of an extension and why should they? He keeps pulling guys after 5 innings year after year and the bullpen crumbles like a graham cracker year after year. That's enough bad news for one night. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 0.96 ERA) takes on Grayson Rodriguez of Baltimore. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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