Things started out well for the Sox in the top of the first against Baltimore starter Mike Wright. Mr. Mookie Betts did it again as he began the game with a solo blast to right center. Dustin Pedroia punched a single in the hole at second but Xander Bogaerts whiffed on an 83 mph change. David Ortiz then whiffed on a 96 mph fastball. Hanley Ramirez popped up to second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
The problem was the Red Sox starter Joe Kelly pooped himself in the bottom of the first inning. Adam Jones singled over the head of Bogaerts on a full count and Hyun Soo Kim singled past a diving Pedroia. Manny Machado missed a home run by inches but the alert baserunners both tagged up on the fly out. Chris Davis walked and Mark Trumbo lashed a 2 run single to give Baltimore the lead. Matt Wieters hit a sac fly to score Davis and Jose Alvarez doubled into the gap to score Trumbo. Jonathan Schoop struck out on an 89 mph fastball to end the inning but it was now 4-1 Baltimore.
The Sox clawed back in the top of the second. Travis Shaw doubled down the left field line on a 3-2 fastball right down the middle before moving to third on the groundout by Blake Swihart. Chris Young then smashed a 2 run home run to left to cut the deficit to one. Ryan Hanigan lined out to first and that brought up Mr. Mookie. Wright then threw behind Mookie's head which drew the ire of the home plate umpire who warned both benches. Sox manager John Farrell came out to ask why the Sox were warned because they hadn't done anything yet. Care to guess what Mookie did next? He swatted a solo home run to left field as Sox analyst Jerry Remy taunted the Baltimore dugout. Pedroia flied out to end the inning but the Sox had tied it 4-4.
Kelly couldn't hold the fort in the bottom of the second. Flaherty walked but was erased on the force by Jones. Kim smacked a ground rule double over the head of Young and Flaherty scored on the sac fly by Machado. Davis walked but Trumbo grounded out to first to end the inning with the O's up 5-4.
The Sox struck back in the top of the third although Bogaerts grounded out to third to start. Ortiz then blasted a solo home run, the fourth by the Sox, to tie the game. Ramirez popped up to third but Shaw singled to left to chase Wright. Vance Worley walked both Swihart and Young to load the bases. Hanigan hit a ground ball up the middle to score Shaw and Swihart to give the Sox the lead. Mr. Mookie walked amidst a chorus of boos from the Sox fans in the crowd looking for the home run. With a chance to add to the lead, Pedroia grounded out to second to end the inning but the Sox were up 7-5
The lasted two seconds in the bottom of the third although Wieters tried to bunt his way on but the alert Hanigan threw him out at first. Alvarez singled to center and Schoop doubled over the head of Young in center to chase the incompetent Kelly. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings on a night the Sox offense was rolling, thanks for nothing.
Tommy Layne came in and wasn't any better as Flaherty struck a base hit to score Schoop with the tying run. Jones flied out to center but Kim walked. Machado slammed a single to left to score Flaherty to give the O's the lead. Davis popped up to Bogaerts in foul territory to end the inning but the O's had re-taken the lead 8-7.
The Sox ran themselves out in the top of the fourth although Bogaerts popped up to short to start. Ortiz singled but was thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Ramirez watched strike three go by to end the inning. Clay Buchholz (3-6, 6.34 ERA) was summoned to pitch the bottom of the fourth inning. Trumbo popped up to shallow center but Wieters drew a walk. Bogaerts ran into foul territory to nab a pop up by Alvarez and Schoop flied out to center to end the inning.
Worley returned for the top of the fifth and to Shaw to ground out to second to begin. Swihart grounded out to second and Young flied out to right to end the inning. Buchholz returned for the bottom of the fifth and struck out Flaherty to start, but Jones hit a ground rule double to right. Kim flied out to center but Jones motored his way to third. Machado popped up to short to end the inning.
The Sox tied it up in the top of the sixth inning. Hanigan got lucky when Machado slipped while fielding a ground ball up the middle and chucked it into the stands for a hit and an error. There was no magic for Mr. Mookie this time as he grounded out to short on the first pitch. Pedroia singled to right and Hanigan chugged all the way home for the tying run. That was it for Worley as O's manager Buck Showalter brought in Brad Brach. Brach uncorked a wild pitch to move Pedroia to second. Bogaerts increased his hitting streak to 25 games with a flare to center but Pedroia remained at third. What turned out to be the play of the game occurred when Ortiz banged into a double play to end the inning. A sac fly would have given the Sox the lead but it still was an 8-8 game
The O's roared back in the bottom of the sixth. Davis and Trumbo worked back to back 4 pitch walks before Wieters hit a routine ground ball to Pedroia....who dropped an elbow on the ball before getting up and posing for the crowd while Davis motored home to re-take the lead for Baltimore. Alvarez singled past the diving Pedroia to load the bases. Schoop hit a grounder to Shaw who fired home for the force but Flaherty hit a grounder off the glove of Ramirez, but Pedroia fielded it and threw it back to Hanley for the out which allowed Wieters to score to increase the lead. Jones flied out to right to end the inning but the O's were up 10-8.
The Sox failed to score in the top of the seventh as Ramirez flied out to right, Shaw grounded out to first and Swihart whiffed to end the inning. For some reason Buchholz came back out for the bottom of the seventh and crapped his pants. Kim singled through the shift but Machado lined out to center. Davis walked again on a borderline pitch and that was it for Buchholz. Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough and finally got Clay out of there, much to Clay's despair.
Matt Barnes came in and walked Trumbo to load the bases. Joey Rickard pinch ran for Trumbo as Sox analyst Jerry Remy began to question where the strike zone was when the umpire failed to ring up Wieters on a borderline pitch. Right on cue Wieters lined the next pitch into center for a base hit to score Kim and Davis to put the game out of reach. Alvarez whiffed but Schoop singled up the middle to score Rickard. A wild pitch moved both runners over but Flaherty hit a squibber back to the mound to end the inning with the O's ahead for good 13-8.
The Sox did manage to get a run back quickly in the top of the eighth when Young blasted another solo home run off Darren O'Day. Hanigan grounded out to first as Josh Rutledge began warming in the bullpen....yes, the infielder. Remy reminded us the last position player to pitch for the Sox was Mike Carp against the Yankees in the disaster on April 24, 2014. Mr. Mookie worked a walk and Pedroia singled to put the pressure on, but Bogaerts looked at strike three. Showalter wasted no time and brought in Zach Britton to pitch to Ortiz. Ortiz drew a walk to load the bases for Ramirez as Rusney Castillo came in to run for Ortiz. Ramirez grounded out to short to end the inning on the first pitch to end any kind of threat. Still, the Sox got one back to trail 13-9.
Barnes, not Rutledge, came back to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Barnes struck out Jones before getting both Kim and Machado to ground out to short to end the inning.
Mercifully the game ended in the top of the ninth. Shaw watched strike three go by and Swihart grounded out to short, but Young hit a ground rule double past Jones just to piss the O's fans off. Hanigan grounded out to third to end the game and the O's had won 13-9.
Jackass of the Night is Clay Buchholz. Yes Joe Kelly laid an egg and the other relievers weren't much help, but if he had shut down the O's attack the Sox may have won the game. Instead he allowed 4 runs to put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 3 with 2 walks and 2 solo home runs.
Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with an rbi.
David Ortiz was 2 for 4 with a walk and a solo home run.
Travis Shaw was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Chris Young was 3 for 4 with a walk, a two run homer and a solo homer.
Ryan Hanigan was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
The Bad:
Hanley Ramirez was runner up for Jackass by going 0 for 5 with a strikeout and leaving the bases loaded in the 8th.
Joe Kelly was terrible giving up 7 runs in just 2 1/3 innings off 7 hits and 3 walks.
Tommy Layne gave up a run in just 2/3 of an inning.
Matt Barnes allowed an inherited runner to score and 1 of his own in 1 2/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5.
Blake Swihart was 0 for 4 but walked and scored.
Honorable Mention:
Rusney Castillo pinch ran for Ortiz in the 8th.
Final Thoughts:
Great offense....terrible, terrible pitching. The one thing the Sox don't want to do is get into a slugfest with the Orioles because they have too many power threats. Machado, Jones, Trumbo, Davis....any one of them can launch one at any time. It was great to see Betts stay hot, Young go yard twice and Bogaerts increase his hitting streak...but that's about it. The Sox pitching was atrocious and Kelly needs to step it up to where he was at the end of last year. The loss dropped the Sox to 32-21, still 2 games ahead of Baltimore for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night Rick Porcello (7-2, 3.68 ERA) goes for the Sox opposite Ubaldo Jimenez. Maybe Rick can get someone out at 7:05 PM at Camden Yards.
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