As for the game, protesters surrounded Camden Yards as yet another unarmed man was killed by police and the O's responded by overcoming a 10th inning deficit to stun Koji Uehara and the Red Sox. The Sox had fought back to tie the game in the 9th and take the lead in the 10th, but an uncharacteristic meltdown by Uehara led to a 5-4 O's victory at Orioles Park in Camden Yards.
Wei-Yin Chen took the mound in the top of the first inning and Mookie Betts led off by watching strike three go by. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to third and David Ortiz struck out to end the inning. Justin Masterson got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and crapped his pants. Alejando De Aza greeted him with a double over the head of Mr. Mookie. Jimmy Paredes doubled home De Aza and took third on the comebacker by Adam Jones. Chris Davis hit a sac fly to score Paredes and Travis Snider grounded out to short to end the inning but the O's led 2-0.
The Sox immediately struck back in the top of the second. Hanley Ramirez led off with a four pitch walk and Mike Napoli clocked his first home run of the year off the right field foul pole to tie the game. Pablo Sandoval flied out to left, Allen Craig grounded out to short and Xander Bogaerts popped up to second to end the inning but it was now tied 2-2.
The O's wasted no time getting on base in the bottom of the second as Manny Machado doubled into the gap on the first pitch. Rey Navarro popped up to short as Sox commentator Don Orsillo mistook Buck Showalter for Buck Martinez. Guess he needs to play some Tri-Tri-Triple Play 99. Caleb Joseph advanced Machado to third with a ground-out to short. Everth Cabrera also grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox mustered nothing in the top of the third. Ryan Hanigan led off by popping up to right before Mr. Mookie whiffed on a high fastball. Machado made a diving stab to rob Pedroia of a hit to end the inning. Pedroia got his revenge by jumping to rob De Aza of a hit to begin the bottom of the third inning. Paredes singled to left and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Masterson, but couldn't move on the flare to right by Jones. Davis hit a bullet but Napoli knocked it down and flipped it to Masterson for the out. Snider was rung up for strike three to end the threat and the inning.
The Sox threatened in the top of the fourth as Ortiz popped up on a full count but Ramirez singled to right. Napoli singled past the diving Machado but Sandoval popped up to right. Craig singled to left but Ramirez foolishly tried for home, getting thrown out by a mile to end the inning.
Masterson remained tough in the bottom of the fourth. Machado hit a squibber in front of the mound but Masterson threw him out. Justin whiffed Navarro and froze Joseph to end the inning.
The Sox failed to score in the top of the fifth as Bogaerts whiffed to start. Hanigan grounded out to short and Mr. Mookie flied out to deep center to end the inning. The O's struck back in the bottom of the 5th. Cabrera tried to bunt his way on but was thrown out by Justin on the first pitch. De Aza grounded out to second on 3 pitches but Paredes belted a home run just over the fence in right to give the O's the lead. Jones flied out to deep center but the O's now led 3-2.
The Sox failed to answer in the top of the sixth as Pedroia grounded out to second, Ortiz hit a 400 foot out to center and Ramirez was rung up for strike three to end the inning. Ramirez had to be restrained by Sox manager John Farrell from attacking the umpire. Masterson returned for the bottom of the sixth and got Davis to ground into the shift to start. Snider grounded out to second but Machado walked. Navarro flied out to left to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the seventh as Napoli grounded out to third, Sandoval grounded out to short and Craig lined one to the wall in right for the third out to end the inning. Masterson returned for the bottom of the seventh and got Joseph to ground out to third to start. Cabrera popped up to center but De Aza was hit with a pitch. The pain in the ass Paredes singled up the middle knocked down by Bogaerts. Jones popped up to right to end the inning. Masterson had gone 7 innings and had given up just 3 runs, normally that would be good enough to win.
Chen returned for the top of the eighth and got Bogaerts to ground out to short to start. Hanigan flied out to right and Mr Mookie popped up to shallow center to end the inning. Chen had retired the last 12 men he faced in a row. Matt Barnes made his season debut taking over for Masterson in the bottom of the eighth inning. Davis greeted him with a single up the middle but was erased when Snider beat out a double play ball. David Lough pinch ran for Snider as Machado singled him to third. Barnes whiffed Navarro for a big second out and got Joseph to ground out to third to end the inning on a big throw by Sandoval.
The Sox somehow tied the game in the top of the ninth against closer Zach Britton. Pedroia drew a leadoff walk but Ortiz struck out. Ramirez hit one up the middle that Navarro dove to grab. He tried to backhand the throw to the shortstop but missed wide and everyone was safe. Napoli hit a sure double play ball but it went off the glove of Britton and once again everyone was safe. The breaks went both ways as Sandoval hit a grounder to Machado who stepped on the bag to force Ramirez at third and THREW THE BALL AWAY! Pedroia scored but Napoli was held at third because a fan touched the ball. Had the fan not touched it, Napoli would have scored the go-ahead run. As it was, the game was tied on 3 straight mistakes by Baltimore. Craig swung at air to end the inning but it was tied 3-3.
Barnes returned for the bottom of the ninth and got Cabrera to ground out to second to start. De Aza grounded out to first and Paredes flied out to left to end the inning, on to extras we go.
The Sox looked to have put the game away in the top of the tenth inning when Bogaerts took Brad Brach's first pitch and launched it over the left field fence for a home run. Hanigan singled to right and was sacrificed to second by Mr. Mookie. Pedroia walked but Ortiz banged into a double play to end the inning. Still the Sox led 4-3 and were 3 outs away from stealing this one.
With Koji Uehara on the mound, 9 times out of 10 the game is over. This happened to be the tenth time as Jones poked one into right, Craig dove and missed the catch allowing Jones to reach third with a triple. Davis did his job with a sac fly to score Jones to tie the game. Lough was brought in as a pinch runner for Snider and he ended up ending the game with a monsterous home run to right. What should have been a stolen victory turned into a bitter defeat.
Jackass of the Night is Koji Uehara. Sure Craig should have made the catch but giving up a homerun to Lough is inexcusable.
The Good:
Justin Masterson went 7 innings and gave up just 3 runs while striking out 3.
Matt Barnes tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Mike Napoli was 3 for 4 including a 2 run home run.
The Bad:
Mookie Betts was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
David Ortiz was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 3 but walked twice and scored a run.
Pablo Sandoval was 0 for 4 but somehow was credited with an rbi.
Allen Craig was just 1 for 4.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but made the hit count as it was a solo home run in the tenth.
Ryan Hanigan was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Turnabout is fair play. The Sox had no business being in the game apart from a few lucky breaks in the ninth inning and the O's finally put it away in the tenth. Seriously, apart from two swings by Napoli and Bogaerts the Sox offense was completely shut down by Chen and company. The sad part was Masterson actually pitched well and a producing offense would have won this game going away. With Victorino on the disabled list, offense is going to be hard to come by. Tomorrow afternoon is the rubber game of this three game set with Wade Miley going up against Bud Norris at 1:35 PM in Baltimore.
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