The Boston Red Sox have been rolling lately, but the bats were bound to go cold at some point.
That was the case Monday at Camden Yards, as the Sox fell to the Baltimore Orioles 4-1.
Christian Vazquez continued to swing a hot bat, but that was just about it at the dish for Boston. The Red Sox catcher had two of the team’s three total hits on the night.
Josh Smith made his first big league start since 2016, but only would go 3 1/3 innings, giving up four earned runs. Boston’s bullpen had a strong showing, led by Ryan Weber in his first appearance of the season. The bullpen gave up no runs over their 5 2/3 innings.
With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 17-19, while the Orioles improve to 13-22.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Cold.
Boston’s cold bats were their downfall, while the Orioles had just one inning of life at the plate. An overall chilly night.
ON THE BUMP
— Prior to Monday’s start, Smith had thrown just one inning for the big club so far this season.
The 31-year-old ran into some trouble in the second inning, loading the bases with nobody out. Smith responded with back-to-back strikeouts, but then gave up a two-out grand slam to Jonathan Villar, which put the O’s up 4-0 early.
After a smooth third inning, Smith allowed two consecutive singles to open the third. He’d set down the next batter in Pedro Severino, but Alex Cora decided to turn to the bullpen.
Smith gave up four earned runs on five hits over 3 1/3 innings to go along with three strikeouts.
— The Sox turned to Heath Hembree, who would retire the next two batters to get out of the fourth unscathed.
— Weber entered the game in the sixth inning after getting the call-up from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier in the day to fill David Price’s roster spot, and he gave Boston a huge lift.
The 28-year-old came in and set down the first six batters he faced, showing some impressive movement on his two-seam fastball.
Weber gave up a leadoff double to Severino in the seventh, but would retire the next three batters in order.
The righty gave up three hits and no runs in four innings of work to go along with four strikeouts and no walks.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Vazquez led off the fifth with a double down the left field line. He’d advance to third on a sacrifice fly by Steve Pearce and ultimately would be driven in by an Eduardo Nunez sacrifice fly to center field.
That would be it for the Sox at the plate.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Even though the bats were cold, we can still appreciate the ballpark.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox continue their seven-game road trip with Game 2 of their three-game set in Baltimore on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. ET.
