It’s the Red Sox’ first win over the Orioles this season. The offense came through when necessary and have reached a .500 record.
The only concern is Clay Buchholz, who struggled yet again after coming off a strong outing. It’s a question mark worth monitoring.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 8-6: Orioles reliever Troy Patton retired two of the three Red Sox batters on strikeouts in this one.
That sets the stage for Alfredo Aceves to come in and look for another save.
End 8th, Red Sox 8-6: Vicente Padilla has been clutch for the Red Sox, especially since he pitched for his third straight day. He’s still rolling pretty well.
Despite inheriting two base runners in scoring position, he recorded a strikeout and got a fly out to bail out Rich Hill.
9:59 p.m.: Rich Hill is struggling a little bit, having surrendered two singles. The Red Sox will now look to Vicente Padilla to handle things.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 8-5: That was a nice moment for Che-Hsuan Lin, who notched his first career hit with a single.
David Ortiz stepped out of the dugout to haul it in and tossed it to Tim Bogar, who pretended to toss it into the stands — a la Kevin Youkilis when Will Middlebrooks got his first career hit.
He scored a run, as Dustin Pedroia brought him in to pad the lead.
End 7th, Red Sox 7-5: That’s back-to-back strikeouts for Andrew Miller. He’s really emerging as a key piece to this bullpen.
That’s stability for you, folks. He was biding his time in Pawtucket and eventually got his opportunity with the Sox and is making the most of it.
I’m sure Mark Melancon is keeping that in mind.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-5: Will Middlebrooks is heating up, collecting his third hit — a single — en route to driving in Dustin Pedroia.
Adrian Gonzalez also added a key sacrifice fly with a fly out to the opposite field. It helped that Kevin Gregg intentionally walked his rival, David Ortiz.
As you may remember, both of them got into a little brawl last season.
End 6th, 5-5: Andrew Miller has really been a surprise and a huge addition to the Red Sox bullpen.
Since his promotion, he hasn’t allowed a single run and he bailed out Buchholz from a potential jam just now.
He scrapped the windup and he’s been pitching from the stretch and it’s really paid huge dividends for the Sox.
9:07 p.m.: Andrew Miller enters for Clay Buchholz.
Mid 6th, 5-5: Uh oh, tie game. Let’s just hope this one doesn’t take 17 innings again.
But this time around, the Red Sox benefitted from a balk, which allowed Will Middlebrooks to score after Tommy Hunter’s miscue.
Daniel Nava continued to help his cause by hitting a sac fly.
8:42 p.m.: David Ortiz just crushed his 10th homer of the year and third career blast against Tommy Hunter.
End 5th, Orioles 5-2: We’re seeing Buchholz stray away from the changeup a little bit and go back to the curveball.
He settled down much better in that inning, but because of his high pitch count, he could be running out of gas pretty soon.
Mid 5th, Orioles 5-2: Che-Hsuan Lin grounded out to shortstop and he’s clearly not the best option at the plate.
He’s always been a defensive specialist, but we’ll see if the Red Sox give him a chance or if they’ll promote Scott Podsednik to the majors.
He’s a favorite in the clubhouse, where he got some playful ribbing on Sunday.
End 4th, Orioles 5-2: First, Chris Davis stifled the Red Sox with his pitching in the 17-inning game.
Now, he’s showing the wood. He blasted Buchholz’s changeup and continued to give the pitcher headaches.
Buchholz is certainly a wild card at this point. He takes steps forward, then takes steps back. With Aaron Cook working to come back, you just have to wonder.
8:20 p.m.: Chris Davis just took Buchholz yard for a solo shot.
Mid 4th, Orioles 4-2: It was one of these situations where the Red Sox could have benefitted from Cody Ross’ bat. Instead Marlon Byrd grounded out.
Before the game, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington offered up some insight on how we may see more of Adrian Gonzalez in the outfield.
“Yeah, I think Bobby’s got a good feel for what Adrian can do,” Cherington said. “I think Adrian is comfortable out there. He sees the ball off the bat well. I think Bobby has a good feel for how much he can do that and how to be safe for him and safe for the team. Fenway is a little bit more of a challenge because of the space out there. some of the ballparks we play in on the road there’s a little less ground to cover. Maybe that becomes an option.”
End 3rd, Orioles 4-2: The inconsistent side of Clay Buchholz has reverted back into the picture.
He’s walked three batters and allowed three singles to let the Orioles get back in this. It took him 31 pitches to escape that one and the Red Sox had Scott Atchison warming up.
It took him 29 pitches to get the first out of the inning. Ouch.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 2-0: Keep an eye on Marlon Byrd because it looks like he’s starting to come around a little more at the plate.
He got things started with a homer in Tampa, had some good swings in Philadelphia and just unloaded a ground rule double en route to scoring.
Daniel Nava’s leadoff single triggered everything as well.
7:41 p.m.: Mike Aviles drives in Daniel Nava via an RBI single. Dustin Pedroia hit a sac fly to bring in Marlon Byrd.
End 2nd, 0-0: Another inning, another piece of cake for Clay Buchholz.
He’s incorporating more and more changeups and it seems like he’s finally getting that grip and feel for that killer pitch.
It helped him induce three groundouts in that inning.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Ah look, Will Middlebrooks and Tommy Hunter have been reunited.
Last time they faced off, Middlebrooks took Hunter deep for a grand slam that was also his first career home run.
This time around, Hunter induced a ground out against the hot hitting rookie.
End 1st, 0-0: Clay Buchholz started hammering the Orioles’ hitters with fastballs.
Six of the nine pitches that he threw in the first inning were straight up four-seamers. He’s been making the right strides in the last two starts and early success has been good for his confidence.
Mid 1st, 0-0: So Mike Aviles’ leadoff home run streak ends at two games and he won’t reach Brady Anderson’s record of four — at least not now.
He popped out to start the game, followed by a Dustin Pedroia strikeout and a David Ortiz groundout. Still, Aviles has been on fire and said Sunday that it’s just baseball.
“You go in cycles,” he said. “Sometimes, a couple weeks ago, I was just terrible. I couldn’t buy a hit and now hits are falling.”
5:45 p.m.: Here are the lineups.
Red Sox
Mike Aviles SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Will Middlebrooks 3B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
Daniel Nava LF
Marlon Byrd CF
Che-Hsuan Lin RF
Clay Buchholz P
Orioles
Xavier Avery, LF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Nick Markakis, RF
Adam Jones, CF
Matt Wieters, C
Chris Davis, 1B
Wilson Betemit, 3B
Nick Johnson, DH
Robert Andino, 2B
Tommy Hunter, P
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox (20-21) cruised through interleague play and are now looking to keep moving forward against the Orioles (27-15).
The last time the two clubs faced each other, the game lasted 17 innings, with two position players finishing the game as pitchers. This time around, Clay Buchholz will take the mound for the Red Sox as he looks to claim his fifth win.
In Buchholz’ last appearance, against Tampa Bay on Wednesday, he struck out five batters while walking just one. But he still has the highest ERA — 7.77 — in the majors. He’ll go against Orioles pitcher Tommy Hunter, who allowed eight hits and five runs in his start against the Red Sox on May 6.
For analysis, follow NESN.com’s live blog. Tune into NESN’s pregame coverage at 6 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
