It was bad news all around as the Boston Bruins lost Game 5 of their first round NHL playoff series to the Florida Panthers and the Boston Red Sox lost the rubber game of their three game series with the Baltimore Orioles. The O's broke a 1-1 tie with 3 runs off Tanner Houck (3-1, 4.50 ERA) in the bottom of the fourth. The Sox could only muster two measly runs against Baltimore starter Tyler Wells. The O's got insurance runs off Richard Bleier and John Schreiber as the O's handed the Sox yet another series loss to an AL East team with a 6-2 victory at Camden Yards.
Wells got the ball in the top of the first inning and Alex Verdugo grounded out to first to start. Rafael Devers flied out to right and Justin Turner lined out to short to end the inning. The O's wasted no time getting to Houck in the bottom of the first as Cedric Mullins lashed a base hit to left to start. Adley Rutschman hit a routine grounder to Enmanuel Valdez who picked the ball up and sang into it for an error to move Mullins to third. Anthony Santander hit a sac fly to center to score Mullins to put Baltimore on top. Ryan Mountcastle flied out to right and Gunnar Henderson grounded out to second to end the inning with the O's up 1-0.
The Sox tied the game instantly in the top of the second as Masataka Yoshida pounded his fourth home run of the year to start. Kike Hernandez walked but Triston Casas took strike three. Jarren Duran flied out to center but Valdez took strike three to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Adam Fraier lined back to Houck to start the bottom of the second and Ryan O'Hearn grounded out to second. Ramon Urias lined a base hit to center but Terrin Vavra grounded out to second to end the inning.
Connor Wong took strike three to start the top of the third before Verdugo grounded back to the mound. Devers grounded back to the mound as well to end the inning. Mullins flied out to right to start the bottom of the third but Rutschman walked. Santander forced Rutschman at second but Mountcastle grounded a base hit up the middle. Henderson struck out swinging to end the inning.
Wells turned up the heat in the top of the fourth as Turner struck out swinging to start. Yoshida and Hernandez both went down hacking to end the inning. The O's took command in the bottom of the fourth as Frazier singled to center to start. O'Hearn singled to right and Urias singled to center to score Frazier. Vavra dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners over and Valdez couldn't come up with a Mullins grounder for an rbi "single" that scored O'Hearn. Urias moved to third on the play and he scored on the sac fly by Rutschman to ice the game. Mullins swiped second but Santander lined out to right to end the inning with the O's up for good 4-1.
Casas grounded out to third to start the top of the fifth before Duran got a base hit to center. Valdez banged into a double play to end the inning. Mountcastle grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fifth before Henderson drew a walk. Frazier struck out swinging and O'Hearn popped up to second to end the inning. That was it for Houck who didn't have his best stuff, allowing 4 runs in just 5 innings of work. Valdez' error didn't help but the rally in the fourth did him in.
The Sox fought back in the top of the sixth as Wong struck out swinging to start. Verdugo doubled to right and Devers moved him to third with a fly out to center. Turner ripped a base hit to right to score Verdugo to cut the lead in half. Danny Coulumbe was brought in to pitch to Yoshida and Masa grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.
The O's battered Richard Bleier in the bottom of the sixth as Urias singled to right to start. Ryan McKenna pinch hit for Vavra and singled to left before both runners moved over on the Mullins sacrifice bunt. Rutschman walked and Santander scored Urias with a sac fly. Mountcastle flied out to center to end the inning with the O's up 5-2.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the seventh as Hernandez got a base hit to left to start. Casas popped up to second but Duran ripped a base hit to center. Christian Arroyo pinch hit for Valdez and O's manager Bruce Hyde countered by bringing in Yennier Cano to pitch to him. Arroyo struck out swinging and Reese McGuire pinch hit for Wong. McGuire lined out to left to end the inning. Brennan Bernardino came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Henderson took strike three to start. Frazier grounded out to short and O'Hearn struck out swinging to end the inning.
Verdugo flied out to center to start the top of the eighth before Devers grounded out to second. Turner was hit with a pitch but Yoshida grounded out to second to end the inning. The O's tagged John Schreiber in the bottom of the eighth as Urias singled past the pound to start. McKenna doubled Urias home and Mullins walked. Rustchman grounded into a double play and Santander popped up to second to end the inning with the O's up 6-2.
Felix Bautista came in to close out the top of the ninth and Hernandez singled to center to start. Casas walked but Duran struck out swinging. Arroyo flied out to right and McGuire struck out swinging to end the game. The O's had won it 6-2.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one but it'll be Tanner Houck. He allowed 4 runs in just 5 innings to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
The Good:
Justin Turner was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a hit by pitch.
Kike Hernandez was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Jarren Duran was 2 for 4.
Bernard Bernardino tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4.
Enmanuel Valdez was 0 for 2 with a strikeout and an error.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Connor Wong was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
Reese McGuire was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.
Richard Bleier allowed a run in the sixth inning.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but the one hit was a home run.
Triston Casas was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
John Schreiber allowed a run in the eighth inning.
Final Thoughts:
Another bad loss to an AL East team. Houck has looked impressive but naturally against an AL East team he couldn't get it done. Not only that but the offense was held in check by Tyler Wells and the Baltimore bullpen. Meanwhile Bleier and Schreiber allowed runs to put the game completely out of reach. Not that the Sox offense were going to do anything anyway, but 4-2 is more manageable than 6-2. The Sox also play from behind almost every game and are dead last in the league in first inning ERA. The Sox need to figure out a stable rotation sometime soon because the Tampa Bay Rays, Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays are off to great starts and they can't afford to fall too far behind. The less said of this game, the better. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox open a weekend series with the Cleveland Guardians. Nick Pivetta (1-1) gets the start for the Sox against Shane Bieber of the Guardians. The game begins Friday night at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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