Final, Red Sox 7-3: Koji Uehara worked around a one-out double to finish off the Orioles, and the Red Sox picked up a big rebound victory in Baltimore.
Stephen Drew powered the Red Sox’ offense with two home runs and five RBIs. The first blast was a three-run homer in the fourth inning, and the second was a two-run dinger in the fourth inning.
Shane Victorino also went deep for Boston. He launched a solo blast over the right field wall in the seventh inning. Mike Carp added three hits while starting in place of Daniel Nava.
David Ortiz was ejected in the seventh inning of what was a rather strange game overall. He thought he had earned a walk, but home plate umpire Tim Timmons called a high 3-0 pitch a strike and Ortiz struck out two pitches later. Ortiz contested the call, and he ended up getting ejected, at which point he smashed the dugout phone.
Click here to see Ortiz’s ejection >>
Ryan Dempster picked up the win for the Red Sox. He allowed two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. Scott Feldman suffered the loss for the Orioles, surrendering four runs on six hits in five innings.
The Red Sox and Orioles will square off in a rubber match Sunday. Jon Lester is set to face Jason Hammel, and the first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.
Good night, everyone.
Mid 9th, Red Sox 7-3: The Red Sox got their first glimpse of K-Rod in an Orioles uniform.
Francisco Rodriguez — who the Red Sox reportedly talked to the Brewers about before he was traded to the O’s — pitched the ninth inning for Baltimore. He gave up a two-out walk, but he kept Boston’s offense scoreless.
Jacoby Ellsbury struck out and Shane Victorino grounded out before Dustin Pedroia earned a free pass.
Brandon Snyder then batted. He was the man called upon to assume the designated hitter’s role vacated by David Ortiz, who was ejected in the seventh inning. Snyder flied out to center field.
Koji Uehara will pitch the ninth inning for Boston. It won’t start off as a save situation, and you can bet that he’d be OK with keeping it a non-save situation.
By the way, we now have the video of Ortiz’s ejection/phone smash. Check it out at the link below.
Click here to see David Ortiz destroy a dugout phone >>
End 8th, Red Sox 7-3: The Orioles posted a run against Junichi Tazawa in the eighth inning.
Adam Jones singled and Chris Davis walked with one out to begin the threat. Matt Wieters then flied out for the second out, during which Jones tagged up and moved to third base.
Jones tagging up was big, as J.J. Hardy hit a ground ball to short that Stephen Drew couldn’t handle. Jones scored from third base.
Tazawa avoided any additional damage by getting Henry Urrutia to fly out to Daniel Nava, who entered the game as a pinch-runner for Mike Carp in the top half of the inning.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 7-2: Mike Carp just seems to produce every time his name is penciled into the Red Sox’ starting lineup.
Carp led off the eighth inning with his third hit of the game. This one was a double, after which he was lifted for a pinch-runner in Daniel Nava.
The Red Sox couldn’t make Carp’s leadoff knock count, though. Brian Matusz settled down to retire the next three hitters.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia popped out, Stephen Drew struck out and Jose Iglesias grounded out.
Drew, who has homered twice in this game, wasn’t too happy with Tim Timmons’ called third strike. It’s been a tough night for Timmons behind the plate.
End 7th, Red Sox 7-2: Craig Breslow, who finished the sixth inning, returned for the seventh inning.
Breslow hit Nate McLouth in the uniform top with two outs, but it was the only hint of trouble that the left-hander saw. Breslow retired the other three hitters he faced.
Henry Urrutia grounded out to third base and Brian Roberts flied out to left field before McLouth got hit. Manny Machado flied out to Shane Victorino, who made a running grab, to end the inning.
Brian Matusz will pitch the eighth inning for Baltimore.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-2: The Red Sox saw the good, the bad and the ugly in the seventh inning.
First, it was the good. Shane Victorino ripped a first-pitch fastball over the right field wall for his fifth home run of the season. That increased Boston’s lead to 7-2.
Then came the bad. David Ortiz thought he had worked a one-out walk, but home plate umpire Tim Timmons made a high strike call on a 3-0 pitch. Ortiz, who had already flipped the bat, wasn’t happy, and he ended up striking out two pitches later.
The dramatic turn of events for Big Papi caused the slugger to lose control — hence the ugliness. Ortiz gave Timmons an earful before returning to the dugout, at which point he was ejected. Ortiz smashed the phone hanging in the dugout with his bat, and he then had to be restrained after charging out of the dugout.
End 6th, Red Sox 6-2: Ryan Dempster exited with one out in the sixth inning, and he looked like he didn’t want to give up the ball. Dempster pitched himself into a jam, and it was clear that he wanted to try to pitch his way out of it.
Nick Markakis singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and he went from first to third when Chris Davis pulled a one-out single into right field.
That’s when John Farrell went out and took the ball from Dempster. The Red Sox skipper called upon lefty Craig Breslow.
Breslow nearly got out of the inning unharmed. Matt Wieters hit a ground ball to first base, and Mike Napoli fired to second in an attempt to start up a double play. But Breslow, who was covering first base, wasn’t able to step on the bag or tag Wieters in time to complete the twin killing. Markakis scored from third base.
Breslow made sure that Markakis’ run was the only one that Baltimore scored. J.J. Hardy popped out to end the inning.
The book is closed on Dempster. He surrendered two earned runs on five hits in his 5 1/3 innings of work. The righty struck out four and walked two while throwing 84 pitches (53 strikes).
Dempster did get into a couple of jams, but he was solid for the most part. It was somewhat surprising to see Farrell turn to the bullpen so early, especially with Dempster’s pitch count in check.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 6-1: Stephen Drew hit his second home run of the game in what was a weird inning.
Mike Carp led off the sixth inning with a little cue shot down the third base line. Manny Machado was shifted over, so the ball rolled past him and resulted in a hit.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia then hit a ball down the third base line as well. Machado fielded his grounder and tossed to second base to complete a forceout. Third base umpire Laz Diaz never made a fair or foul call on the grounder, though, so there was some brief confusion. John Farrell came out for a discussion with Diaz — it wasn’t the first or last chat that Farrell had with the boys in blue.
Drew then drilled a 1-0 pitch to deep right field. The ball landed over the wall, but it ricocheted back onto the field and into center field. Initially, it wasn’t ruled a home run, although Drew scored anyway because the Orioles botched a rundown with Drew hung up between third base and home. Either way, the Red Sox were going to come away with two runs, but the umpires took another look and ruled that Drew’s fly ball was, in fact, a home run.
Jose Iglesias grounded back to the mound, and Jacoby Ellsbury struck out swinging to end the inning. The inning’s damage came against Troy Patton, who relieved Scott Feldman at the beginning of the frame.
End 5th, Red Sox 4-1: The Orioles looked poised for a big inning, so the fact that they only pushed across one run is a win for the Red Sox.
J.J. Hardy — fresh off his busy inning in the field — and Henry Urrutia hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning.
Brian Roberts then put Baltimore on the scoreboard by drilling a ball over Shane Victorino’s head in right field. The ball bounced back to Victorino, and he got it back in quickly to keep Roberts at first base and to prevent Urrutia from scoring.
Ryan Dempster bounced back to strike out Nate McLouth, who certainly helped out the right-hander. McLouth chased a couple of pitches, including a 2-2 slider low and out of the strike zone.
Manny Machado should have struck out for the second out, but home plate umpire Tim Timmons ruled that Dempster’s 0-2 pitch wasn’t a strike — despite it being right down the middle. In the end, it actually worked out better for Boston, as Machado grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 4-0: J.J. Hardy was busy in the fifth inning.
Shane Victorino led off with a line drive to Hardy, and it actually turned out to be the shortstop’s easiest play of the inning.
Dustin Pedroia followed Victorino’s lineout with a grounder into the hole. Hardy ranged over, made a backhanded play and fired a strong, accurate throw to first to record the second out.
Mike Napoli threatened to line a two-out single into left field. Hardy capped his busy frame with a nice lunging grab, though.
That’s why he’s an All-Star, folks.
End 4th, Red Sox 4-0: Ryan Dempster has kept the O’s down for four innings.
Dempster received a little help at the beginning of the fourth. Adam Jones, who hit two home runs to the opposite field in Friday’s game, sent another one in that direction. It wasn’t as deep as it originally appeared, though, and Shane Victorino made a nice leaping grab back in front of the wall.
Dempster then struck out Chris Davis for the second out, and Matt Wieters flied out to center field for the third out.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 4-0: The Red Sox staged a two-out rally, and it was capped by a three-run blast from Stephen Drew.
Scott Feldman retired the first two hitters of the fourth inning. David Ortiz flied out to center field, and Mike Napoli struck out on a pitch up high. Feldman ran into some trouble, though, and it started with a good at-bat by Mike Carp.
Carp took two balls before fouling off four straight pitches. The battle ended with Carp dropping a single into center field.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia also singled into center, and that set the stage for Drew’s three-run homer. Drew yanked a 1-0 cutter into the right-field seats for his sixth home run of the season.
End 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: The Orioles got something going with two outs before faltering.
Ryan Dempster needed just five pitches to record the first two outs of the third inning. Both Henry Urrutia and Brian Roberts made solid contact, but their line drives were right at guys. Stephen Drew handled Urrutia’s line drive, and Napoli snagged Roberts’ liner.
Nate McLouth tried to spark something with a two-out single into right field. Manny Machado then walked on eight pitches after hitting a few foul balls down the third base line that nearly dropped in.
Dempster rebounded after his hiccups against McLouth and Machado, though. He got Nick Markakis to hit a fly ball to right-center field that Jacoby Ellsbury flagged down.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 1-0: The Red Sox are the best team in the majors when they score first. The Sox now have the luxury of a 1-0 lead after posting a run in the third inning.
Stephen Drew led off the inning with a line drive up over Nick Markakis’ head in right field. Markakis got it back in quickly to hold Drew to a single, but the leadoff hit put the wheels in motion for the Red Sox’ offense.
Jose Iglesias hit a slow roller down to Chris Davis at first base for the inning’s first out. Drew moved up to second base.
Jacoby Ellsbury then singled into left field. The umpire initially called catcher’s interference during the single, as Ellsbury’s bat hit Matt Wieters’ mitt. The call would have forced Drew to stay at second base, but by rule, the Red Sox were able to opt for the result of the play instead. Ellsbury was thus awarded a single, and Drew moved up to third base.
Ellsbury joined Drew in scoring position by stealing second base. It was his major league-leading 38th stolen base in 41 chances this season. Ellsbury picked the right pitch to go on, as it was a pitch in the dirt from Scott Feldman.
Ellsbury didn’t end up scoring, but Drew did, as Shane Victorino hit an RBI groundout to second base.
The Red Sox are 42-9 when scoring first this season. That’s good for a major league-best .824 winning percentage.
End 2nd, 0-0: Ryan Dempster breezed through the second inning.
Dempster struck out Chris Davis to begin the inning. Davis, who is homerless since the All-Star break, went down looking at a fastball on the inside corner.
Matt Wieters lifted a routine fly ball into shallow left field for the second out, and J.J. Hardy hit a grounder out in front of the plate for the final out.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia deserves credit for hustling out from behind the dish and firing an accurate throw in time to nail Hardy.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: David Ortiz worked a leadoff walk, but it didn’t evolve into anything further.
Mike Napoli popped out to his first base counterpart for the first out. Chris Davis made the play right next to the bag in foul territory.
Mike Carp then grounded to the right side. Brian Roberts ranged to his left and made the play. Roberts fired to second base to retire Ortiz, but Carp’s grounder wasn’t hit hard enough to give the Orioles a chance to turn a double play.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia grounded to Roberts, who was in a perfect position because of the shift, to end the inning.
End 1st, 0-0: Ryan Dempster’s inning wasn’t perfect, but it was scoreless.
Dempster walked Nick Markakis with two outs, but he managed to keep Adam Jones in the yard, and we’ll head to the second inning with no score.
Nate McLouth popped out to shallow left field for the first out. Stephen Drew went out and eventually called off everyone to make the play.
Manny Machado, who showed bunt to begin the at-bat, popped out to Jarrod Saltalamacchia behind the plate for the second out.
After Markakis walked on four pitches, Adam Jones, who homered to the opposite field twice in Friday’s game, flied out to center field.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Scott Feldman tossed 19 pitches in a 1-2-3 inning.
Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino each grounded out to second base to begin the ballgame. Victorino found himself in a 3-1 count, but he ended up reaching out and poking a 3-2 curveball out of the zone to Brian Roberts.
Dustin Pedroia stepped up and ran the count full after falling behind, 2-0. He then fouled off back-to-back payoff offerings before grounding down to Manny Machado at third base.
7:33 p.m.: Scott Feldman’s first pitch is a strike on the outside corner, and we’re underway.
7:29 p.m.: Ryan Dempster is coming in from the bullpen. It looks as if the Orioles are ready to take the field.
7:24 p.m.: 7:20 has come and gone, and we still don’t have baseball.
The players are waiting around in the dugout, though, so I can’t imagine this delay will last much longer.
7:11 p.m.: According to the Orioles’ official Twitter account, the expected start time is 7:20 p.m.
7:05 p.m.: We’ve got a rain delay at Camden Yards. Stay tuned.
This Red Sox rain delay is presented by L.L. Bean.
6:49 p.m.: I’m not sure if any of you Red Sox fans attended Futures at Fenway on Saturday, but the Portland Sea Dogs defeated the Harrisburg Senators, 5-2. Travis Shaw went 3-for-4 with a solo homer, and Keith Couch pitched seven innings while earning the win.
6:31 p.m.: If the Red Sox make a move before the trade deadline, there’s a good chance that it’ll be for a pitcher. That makes it kind of ironic that Boston’s offense is the biggest reason behind the team’s recent skid, which has seen the Sox drop six of their last nine games.
Click here to read about the Red Sox’ offense >>
6:14 p.m.: The Red Sox lost their game and their division lead Friday. They also lost out on a pitcher.
The Phillies reportedly signed Cuban hurler Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez to a six-year contract, and the Red Sox reportedly were in the bidding until the very end.
Gonzalez certainly comes with some risk, but I actually think he would have made sense for the Sox, especially considering he might pitch this season and Boston wouldn’t have needed to give up any prospects to obtain the 26-year-old right-hander.
Click here to read more about Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez >>
5:33 p.m.: The Red Sox certainly have to reverse their fortunes against the Orioles. The O’s are 19-7 against the Sox over the last two seasons. Baltimore enters Saturday’s contest having won six of the teams’ eight matchups this season.
4:41 p.m.: Daniel Nava returned to the Red Sox’ lineup for Friday’s series opener, but he struggled. He struck out three times in the loss, including once with the bases loaded in the first inning.
Nava won’t be in Saturday’s starting lineup. John Farrell has instead penciled Mike Carp into left field. Carp will bat sixth — sandwiched by Mike Napoli and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Saturday’s complete lineups are below.
Red Sox (61-43)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victorino, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Mike Carp, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Stephen Drew, SS
Jose Iglesias, 3B
Ryan Dempster, RHP (5-8, 4.28 ERA)
Orioles (58-46)
Nate McLouth, LF
Manny Machado, 3B
Nick Markakis, RF
Adam Jones, CF
Chris Davis, 1B
Matt Wieters, C
J.J. Hardy, SS
Henry Urrutia, DH
Brian Roberts, 2B
Scott Feldman, RHP (2-1, 4.73)
4:20 p.m.: The Rays won again.
Chris Archer shut down the Yankees’ struggling offense Saturday, holding New York to just two hits while tossing a complete-game shutout. They Rays won, 1-0, and with the victory, they move to one full game ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East standings.
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox find themselves in a spot they haven’t been in since May 27: second place.
The Red Sox dropped the first game of their series in Baltimore on Friday, while the Rays took care of the Yankees in the Bronx. With Tampa’s win and Boston’s loss, the Rays now enter Saturday’s action with a half game lead in the American League East.
The Red Sox’ offense was to blame Friday, as Chris Tillman tossed seven shutout innings en route to a victory. Tillman has developed into a thorn in Boston’s side, as the right-hander is 2-0 with a 0.98 ERA (two earned runs in 18 1/3 innings) in three starts against the Red Sox this season.
Ryan Dempster will look to stop the bleeding Saturday, although he’ll need to be better than he has been in his last two starts. Dempster hasn’t factored into a decision since June 25 — a span of four starts. The Red Sox are 6-3 since the beginning of June when Dempster starts, though, so Boston will have that working in its favor.
Saturday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Be sure to stick around.
