Red Sox Live Blog: Boston Manages Just Two Hits, Orioles Win 4-1

Final, Orioles 4-1: A solid start from Felix Doubront, who gave up just two runs and struck out nine in six innings, was squandered by a Red Sox offense that was only able to muster up two hits on the night.

Brian Matusz's strong outing was his best of the season, as the left-hander went 6 1/3 innings allowing just one run and two hits.

The Baltimore bullpen then closed the door on the Red Sox, throwing 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball and striking out three batters to collect 12 K's for Orioles pitching on the night.

Both Scott Tolleson, in the second inning, and Wilson Betemit, in the eigth inning, went deep with two-run home runs for the Orioles to give them the 4-1 advantage by night's end.

Kevin Youkilis had a triumphant return to the Sox, though, hitting a home run in his second at-bat back with the team and accounting for the Red Sox entire offensive output on the night. Youk's return should help stave off some of the injury concerns swirling around the Red Sox in recent days.

End 8th inning, Orioles 4-1: A solid outing for Matt Albers featured one minor hiccup, as Orioles first baseman Wilson Betemit crushed a home run to deep right field.

Betemit's bomb was his seventh of the season and just the second Albers has allowed in his last 10 outings.

The two-run shot gave the Orioles a 4-1 lead heading into the top of the ninth, and closer Jim Johnson is headed in to try and shut the door on another Baltimore victory.

Mid 8th inning, Orioles 2-1:Scott Podsednik reached base in his first at-bat with the Red Sox on Tuesday night. It wasn't a hit, but it definitely showed some promise.

After a Daniel Nava walk, Podsednik came on for center fielder Marlon Byrd and sent a grounder to first base. Podsednik used his speed to reach base but Nava was out at second. The inning ended with a Mike Aviles ground out to second.

Podsednik reaches base in his debut with the Sox, after being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier in the day.

End 7th inning, Orioles 2-1: A tough start to the inning for Franklin Morales looked like the Orioles might add some insurance runs.

But it was Matt Albers who came in to save the inning, showing off possibly his best stuff of the season.

Albers struck out both Robert Andino and J.J. Hardy to close out the inning, leaving two Orioles on-base and keeping the score at a more reasonable 2-1.

9:29 p.m.: After a single, a walk and a balk, Morales finally recorded an out by way of fly out to center field.

But Matt Albers was brought on in relief to try and close out the inning for the Red Sox.

9:16 p.m.: Franklin Morales is in to relieve Doubront in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Doubront is done after allowing just two runs and recording a season-high nine strikeouts on the night.

Mid 7th Inning, Orioles 2-1: Darren O'Day came on in relief of Brian Matusz in the middle of the seventh inning, but the result was still the same.

Matusz started off the inning with a strike out of Adrian Gonzalez, and O'Day sat down both Youkilis and Middlebrooks in the same fashion.

The Boston batters have seemed unable to solve the Baltimore's pitching puzzle on Tuesday night. The game remains within reach, but even a 2-1 lead seems a bit steep for the Red Sox at this rate.

9:08 p.m.: After striking out Adrian Gonzalez for the second time on the night, manager Buck Showalter headed out to the mound to relieve Brian Matusz from the game.

Matusz went 6 1/3 innings on the night, allowing just two hits, one run, one walk and striking out a career-high nine batters.

Darren O'Day came in to face Kevin Youkilis in the seventh.

End 6th inning, Orioles 2-1: Another strong inning from Doubront helps keep Boston within striking distance in Balitmore.

Doubront looked very strong through six innings of work, striking out nine on the night, including both Adam Jones and Matt Wieters twice each.

A leadoff single by Nick Markakis had it looking like Doubront may be headed for an exit early in the sixth, but back-to-back-to-back strikeouts helped shut the door and close out the inning.

After 108 pitches, Doubront's night is likely done. But the left-hander put together one heck of a stat line, allowing just four hits and two runs over the six innings of work.

Mid 6th Inning, Orioles 2-1: Brian Matusz is just unstoppable on the mound on Tuesday.

The Orioles lefty has gone through six innings and now has eight strikeouts against the Red Sox. Matusz could very well work at least one if not two more innings, which could be the worst case scenario given the Boston batters clear struggles at the dish.

Another 1-2-3 inning, including a pair of Ks to Aviles and Ortiz, gets the Orioles into the bottom of the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead.

End 5th inning, Orioles 2-1: Doubront made quick work of the Orioles yet again in the fifth, appearing to really settle into a groove on Tuesday,

The left-hander has now retired each of the past seven batters, and he only threw 25 pitches over the past two innings.

If the Red Sox offense can get going against Matusz at some point soon, Doubront could be scoping out his team-leading fifth win of the season.

Mid 5th Inning, Orioles 2-1: Brian Matusz obviously isn't messing around. The 25-year-old has been fooling Red Sox hitters all night on Tuesday and sat down the bottom of the lineup in order again in the fifth.

Matusz struck out Salty before a slow roller to third sat Daniel Nava down as well. The Orioles starter got out of the inning with a Byrd strike out as well.

After five innings, Matusz has thrown just 82 pitches and could be working well into the seventh inning if things keep progressing this way.

End 4th inning, Orioles 2-1: Doubront must be reading the live blog, tonight. The lefty threw just 14 pitches in the fourth inning, keeping his total at just 71 heading into the fifth.

A pair of slow-rolling grounders followed by a strike out of the home-run hitting Tolleson should give the Sox a boost and could help Doubront to possibly pitch into the sixth inning.

Mid 4th inning, Orioles 2-1: Kevin Youkilis has made a triumphant return to the Red Sox lineup.

Youk, in his first game back with the team since being activated from the 15-day DL, took Brian Matusz deep to center field to help cut the Orioles lead to 2-1.

The home run may have only cut the deficit in half for Boston, but the team looked excited by the bomb and it could very well lead to an offensive surge.

Ortiz, Gonzalez and Middlebrooks continued to struggle with Matusz, as each went down fairly easy in the inning.

End 3rd inning, Orioles 2-0: Doubront appeared to settle down in the third inning, after giving up a pair of runs an inning earlier.

Adam Jones single to left field didn't throw off his focus, as Doubront was able to sit down Wieters by way of the K and keep the O's from adding to their total.

Doubront's high pitch count is more concerning than anything. The lefty has thrown 57 pitches through three innings and if he isn't able to slow it down soon it will be an early entrance for the Boston bullpen.

Mid 3rd inning, Orioles 2-0: Another 1-2-3 inning for Matusz. The Red Sox look to be a bit befuddled by Matusz's pitches on the night, not finding a way to really drive the ball.

Marlon Byrd and Mike Aviles were both able to make decent contact but to no avail as the Orioles defense has looked stellar so far on Tuesday.

With Ortiz, Gonzalez and Youkilis set to get things going in the third, Boston at least has a shot to get things going offensively.

End 2nd inning, Orioles 2-0: Scott Tolleson smacked his second home run of the season to put the Orioles on top with a 2-0 lead.

Felix Doubront struggled with a leadoff walk to Wislon Betemit and after a near botched fielder's choice Tolleson struck with the shot to center field.

Doubront closed out the inning with his third strike out of the night, but not after the damage was already done.

Doubront could be in some trouble if he doesn't get his pitch count down, as the left-hander has already thrown 39 pitches in just two innings of work.

Mid 2nd inning, 0-0: Brian Matusz continues to impress early on against the Red Sox lineup. His pitches have some great movement and he appears locked on the strike zone on Tuesday.

Adrian Gonzalez gave the Red Sox a leadoff single to kick things off in the top of the second. A Jarrod Saltalamacchia walk had the Red Sox with a man in scoring position, but Boston was unable to capitalize on the early opportunity.

Kevin Youkilis went down on strikes and Will Middlebrooks flew out to center field before a Daniel Nava strike out ended any chances at getting an early lead.

End 1st inning, 0-0: Felix Doubront found himself in a bit of trouble to start off this one, but the 23-year-old pitcher worked his way out of the danger by utilizing his filthy breaking ball.

Doubront's curveball looked almost unhittable for much of the first inning, as the pitch was breaking at the knees of hitters. Both Adam Jones and Robert Andino fell victim to the pitch, going down by way of the K.

J.J. Hardy walked and Nick Markakis singled to stir up some trouble, but Doubront recorded the two strikeouts and got Matt Wietersto flyout to left field to keep the O's from scoring.

Mid 1st inning, 0-0: Brian Matusz made quick work of the Red Sox to start the game on Tuesday.

Boston went down in order with a 1-2-3 first inning. Mike Aviles flew out to right followed by a Dustin Pedroia ground out and David Ortiz going down on strikes.

The slow start shouldn't be too much of a concern for the Sox, but Matusz looks to have his best stuff early on in this one. He's had a tough go of it on the year, but Matusz does possess some serious talent and when he's on top of his game can be extremely dangerous.

7:05 p.m.: Mike Aviles and the Red Sox are getting amped for game time, as Brian Matusz and the Orioles take the field.

Aviles is surely trying to set a tone at the top of the Red Sox order, and will hopefully get an early rally going for Boston.

6:30 p.m.: In other Red Sox news, Scott Podsednik was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier in the day while outfielder Ryan Sweeney was placed on the seven-day DL after failing concussion tests on Monday night.

Sweeney will be re-evaluated at the start of next week to see if he can return to the field.

For a little more info on Podsednik and his career in the big leagues, read here.

6 p.m.: While Kevin Youkilis is back in the Red Sox lineup and Adrian Gonzalez is moving out to right field for the night, Felix Doubront (4-1, 4.09) will take the hill for Boston with a tough test ahead of him.

Doubront has racked up three straight wins and is looking for his fifth of the season on Tuesday. The Orioles will pose a difficult obstacle for that goal, as the O's have scored the sixth most runs in the league this season.

Brian Matusz (3-4, 5.36) will be starting for the Orioles, hoping to turn his recent struggles around against the Red Sox recently hot-hitting lineup.

There's plenty to notice, especially with all the injuries for the Red Sox. Take a look at the complete Red Sox lineup, below.

Red Sox
Mike Aviles, SS
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Adrian Gonzalez, RF
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Daniel Nava, LF
Marlon Byrd, CF

Felix Doubront, P

Orioles
Robert Andino, 2B
J.J. Hardy, SS
Nick Markakis, RF
Adam Jones, CF
Mat Wieters, C
Wilson Betemit, 1B
Chris Davis, DH
Steve Tolleson, 3B
Xavier Avery, LF

Brian Matusz, P

4 p.m.: Kevin Youkilis is back with the Red Sox and it looks like his presence is causing quite a stir in the Boston lineup.

The 33-year-old Youkilis was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday and will be taking the field at first base in Baltimore, manning the position for the first time in over a year.

Adrian Gonzalez will be moving to right field, while David Ortiz sticks in the DH hole.

8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox used some timely hitting and a solid performance out of the bullpen to pull out another win on Monday and get back to .500 for the first time sincelate April.

Felix Doubront will be taking the mound for Boston on Tuesday night in search of his fifth win on the season and fourth in his past four starts. Doubront will be facing a potent Baltimore lineup that lit up Clay Buchholz for five runs over 5 1/3 innings on Monday, and he'll be hoping to fare a little better though.

First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. at Camden Yards, so be sure to tune into NESN for all your Red Sox coverage starting with Red Sox First Pitch at 6 p.m. And always keep up with the NESN.com live blog for all your need to know Red Sox info.