The O's wasted no time scoring against Porcello in the top of the first inning. Jonathan Villar hit a hard grounder back to Porcello to start while Trey Mancini missed a home run by inches before settling with a double. Dwight Smith walked but somehow Renato Nunez struck out swinging. Rio Ruiz walked to load the bases and none other than the 0-56 Chris Davis singled home Mancini and Smith to put the O's up early. Hanser Alberto grounded into a force to end the inning with the O's up 2-0.
Andrew Benintendi walked to start the bottom of the first but kept on running to second where he was thrown out by a mile to end that. Mr. Mookie Betts flied out to center before Mitch Moreland grounded out to first to end the inning.
Pedro Severino hit an absolute rocket but right to third to start the top of the second inning before Cedric Mullins walked. Villar effortlessly singled to left before both runners moved over on the Mancini grounder to third. Smith walked to load the bases but Dustin Pedroia had to make a spectacular catch to rob Nunez of a bases clearing triple to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as JD Martinez grounded out to short, Xander Bogaerts whiffed and Steve Pearce grounded out to first to end the inning.
Somehow Porcello cruised in the top of the third inning as Ruiz grounded out to second, Davis grounded out to first and Alberto popped up to second to end the inning. Somehow the Sox rallied in the bottom of the third as Rafael Devers walked to start. Devers moved to second as Pedroia grounded out before Christian Vazquez socked a 2 run home run to tie the game. Benintendi flied out to center but Betts walked. Moreland looked at strike three to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Severino singled to open the top of the fourth and moved to second on the sacrifice bunt by Mullins. Severino moved to third on the Villar grounder before Mancini walked to put runners at the corners. Smith whiffed to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Martinez, Bogaerts and Pearce all flied out to center in short order.
The O's took the lead for good in the top of the fourth when back to back singles by Nunez and Ruiz chased Porcello. He played with fire all game and left after allowing 3 runs in just 4 innings. He walked 5 men to show his command is not there. Heath Hembree came in and poured gas on the fire when Davis...yes him again...doubled in Nunez to put Baltimore ahead for good. Hembree got out of it by getting Alberto to fly out to right, Severino to strike out and Mullins to fly out to right to end the inning with Baltimore ahead 3-2;.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the bottom of the fifth inning. Devers grounded out to first before Pedroia and Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning.
Colten Brewer came in for the top of the sixth inning and puked his guts out. Villar walked, Mancini singled and Smith walked to load the bases within seconds. Nunez singled home Villar before Ruiz singled home Mancini and Smith to chase Brewer. He faced 5 batters, giving up 3 hits and 2 walks. Thanks for nothing. Marcus Walden came in and got Davis to ground into a force at second but Nunez scored another run. Alberto whiffed and Severino popped up to first but the game was over 7-2.
The Sox had a small chance to get back in the game in the bottom of the sixth but pissed it away. Benintendi doubled and Mr. Mookie singled him to third to begin. Jimmy Yacabonis replaced Cashner and Moreland ended the rally by banging into a double play, scoring Benintendi in the process. Martinez hit a whopping squibber in front of the plate to end the inning with the Sox down 7-3.
The Sox were a comedy of errors in the top of the seventh. Martinez fell down trying to catch a routine pop up from Mullins and Cedric was credited with a "single" to begin. Villar walked on a 3-2 pitch 100 feet over the head of Vazquez before somehow Mancini whiffed. Smith hit a routine grounder to first.....under the glove of Pearce for an error to score Mullins. Nunez hit a routine grounder to third and Devers threw his glove at it and shot at it with finger pistols for another error to score Villar. Smith was thrown out at second because he pulled up to laugh at Devers before Ruiz flied out to center to end the inning with the O's ahead 9-3, what a disaster.
Somehow the Sox put runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh although Bogaerts lined out to second to start. Pearce popped up to the pitcher but Devers atoned for his error with a base hit to center. Pedroia walked and Vazquez doubled in both men. Tanner Scott came in to pitch and Benintendi walked. Had the bullpen not crapped themselves the Sox would have had a chance to take the lead here. Instead Betts flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 9-5.
Tyler Thornburg sprinted out of the bullpen and made a mad dash to the mound in the top of the eighth inning. Davis doubled to start but Alberto whiffed. Severino popped up to third but a wild pitch moved Davis to third. Mullins grounded out to second to end the inning and Thornburg ran as fast as he could into the dugout. Eduardo Nunez pinch hit for Moreland in the bottom of the eighth and flied out to right. Martinez singled to center to chase Scott as Mychal Givens came in and struck out Bogaerts. Blake Swihart pinch hit for Pearce and a passed ball moved Martinez to second. Swihart whiffed to end the inning, great pinch hitting!
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez came in for the top of the ninth and Villar singled to begin. A wild pitch moved Villar to second but Mancini whiffed. Villar was thrown out at third trying to steal before Smith took strike three to end the inning. Joey Rickard came in to play right and Richie Martin came in to play short with Villar moving to second to begin the bottom of the ninth. Devers whiffed, Pedroia grounded out to short and Vazquez took strike three to end the game. The O's had ended the misery with a 9-5 win.
Jackass of the Night is Colten Brewer. He allowed a total of 4 runs without retiring a batter to put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with 4 total rbis including a 2 run home run.
Tyler Thornburg pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Hector Velazquez pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Steve Pearce was 0 for 3 with an error.
Rick Porcello took the loss by getting knocked out in the fifth inning after allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and FIVE walks.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4.
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 3 but walked and scored.
Heath Hembree allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in the 5th inning.
Marcus Walden allowed 2 runs but neither were earned in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
So much for coming home and playing well. So far the Sox have been completely outclassed by every team they have faced so far, needing miracle rallies or nearly perfect pitching to win the only games they have. They can't hit in the clutch, they can't pitch and they can't field. Sox manager Alex Cora is paying very dearly for sandbagging Spring Training. This is turning out worse than 2014 by the day and unless the rotation picks it up in a hurry, they'll be trading their players by July. Porcello, Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi have been horrendous to start the year but maybe they'll turn it around tomorrow. Tomorrow David Price (0-1) looks to stem the tide against John Means and the Orioles at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park
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