Final 13th, Orioles 6-4: It was a really, really, really long one, but the Orioles pulled it out.
Jon Lester was solid, but not spectacular in this start. His 14-0 career record against the Orioles remains the same since he received the no-decision.
Alfredo Aceves was impressive, racking up six strikeouts.
Mid 13th, Orioles 6-4: This could be it for the Red Sox.
After Mark Reynolds belted a sac fly to expand the lead to two runs, it all comes down to one inning for Boston. It's been a painfully long one here, but we'll see how Exposito and Jim Johnson work it out for Baltimore.
11:39 p.m.: Chris Davis singled in Matt Wieters to finally break the deadlock. Franklin Morales is getting yanked for Scott Atchison.
End 12th, 4-4: Luis Exposito finally made his major league debut at Fenway Park. Except it was as a member of the Orioles.
The former PawSox catcher was called up twice last season, but never made an appearance since he was just an emergency option.
Now, he's catching against the team that developed him.
Mid 12th, 4-4: Yeah, it seemed the chemistry between Aceves and Saltalamacchia wasn't as crisp as it was with Shoppach.
Aceves gave up a hit and wasn't fanning guys like he was. It called for Bobby Valentine to insert Franklin Morales into the mix.
End 11th, 4-4: Jarrod Saltalamacchia pinch hit for Kelly Shoppach in the 11th and popped out.
He'll be staying in and catching for Aceves now. It'll be interesting to see how this affects the groove that Aceves has developed.
Mid 11th, 4-4: I don't know what got into Alfredo Aceves, but he is on fire right now.
Despite allowing a hit to Chris Davis, he racked up another three strikeouts in that inning, bringing his total to six. That's more punchouts than Jon Lester, who tossed six frames.
End 10th, 4-4: The Red Sox missed their chances with a runner in scoring position yet again.
This time, Darnell McDonald flew out to center field to extend the stretch of extra innings against the Orioles. He had Dustin Pedroia on second base waiting for a chance to pounce and score.
Mid 10th, 4-4: Alfredo Aceves –enough said. He struck out J.J. Hardy, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones in successive at-bats.
He mixed in the offspeed stuff and the fastball to get those guys whiffing at his pitches. It's the performance that the Red Sox need at this time.
End 9th, 4-4: Ready for some extra-inning? Good because here's the first one of the home stretch.
Mike Aviles and Will Middlebrooks had their chances to drive in Ryan Sweeney — who was on second — but each grounded out.
Just another slugfest in the AL East.
Mid 9th, 4-4: I'm still shocked Robert Andino hasn't been booed after all these at-bats.
He's officially off the Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone list. Those guys were mercilessly booed and hate at Fenway Park.
Andino is 1-for-4 with a walk so far in this one.
End 8th, 4-4: David Ortiz drew a walk, but was doubled off after Cody Ross lined out.
It was a pretty close call and it seemed that Ortiz beat the throw, but first base umpire Mike Estabrook thought otherwise.
Estabrook heard it from the crowd as he received a smattering of boos after the call.
Mid 8th, 4-4: Who said Matt Albers wasn't an athlete? The reliever fielded the ball cleanly and tossed a strike to first base while dodging a broken bat.
Aside from walking Wilson Betemit, Albers pitched a clean inning and has continued to stabilize the bullpen in his time here.
End 7th, 4-4: After his 0-for-18 slump, Adrian Gonzalez has collected two hits in this one.
Shortly after Wednesday's game, he said his timing was off at the plate, which resulted in his slow start. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine tried to cover for him, however, and sais Gonzalez was tired.
Needless to say, Gonzalez denied he was tired and went into Valentine's office to let him know.
Mid 7th, 4-4: The start of the inning didn't treat Vicente Padilla too well after he loaded the bases with no outs and then allowed a run.
Fortunately for the Red Sox, he induced a double play. That's when Bobby Valentine called for Rich Hill to finish it off.
Hill threw four pitches to get Nick Markakis to fly out to left field.
End 6th, Red Sox 4-3: Matt Lindstrom came in relief for the Orioles and got Darnell McDonald, Marlon Byrd out on groundouts and got Shoppach to strike out swinging.
And it looks like Jon Lester is out of this one. Lester owns a 14-0 career record against the Orioles. It also marks the longest current win streak by any active pitcher versus any team.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 4-3: Chen is out of this game for the Orioles. The hurler was actually on the same team in Japan as Red Sox first base coach Alex Ochoa.
Before the game, Bobby Valentine joked that Ochoa gave him the inside scoop on Chen. The Orioles acquired the rookie from Japan during this offseason.
Looks like he's still feeling his way through everything.
End 5th, Red Sox 4-3: When Dustin Pedroia received the news he was hitting cleanup for this one, he was shouting with excitement in the clubhouse and needling the media.
He's rewarded Valentine for the decision, belting an RBI single to score Will Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks, by the way, is hitting second for the first time in his career.
Mid 5th, 3-3: That inning only took nine pitches for Jon Lester to take care of business.
But here's another note — the Orioles called up former Sox catcher Luis Exposito on Friday to major league club. I saw him chatting with Gary Tuck before the game.
Exposito was caught in a catching logjam in the Red Sox organization with Ryan Lavarnway waiting in the wings. He'll have a shot now to back up Wieters.
End 4th, 3-3: Chen just caught Aviles napping with a pickoff attempt to first base. Aviles tried to cover it up and sped over to second and was tagged out.
He almost beat the tag though, to his credit.
As for Kelly Shoppach, he's struggled against lefties in the recent stretch of game's he played. But he drew a walk there.
Mid 4th, 3-3: Matt Wieters, who has been carrying the Orioles' offense this season, just added an RBI to his total with a triple.
With Jorge Posada and Jason Varitek gone, he's the face of the catchers in the AL East. That's pretty crazy if you think about it.
Wilson Betemit also recorded an RBI single.
End 3rd, Red Sox 3-1: This signals the first game of the season that Dustin Pedroia has hit cleanup.
Valentine likely made the move to jumpstart Adrian Gonzalez, who entered the game in a an 0-for-18 slump.
Gonzalez got his first hit to snap the slump. David Ortiz and Cody Ross followed up with RBIs to add to the gap.
Mid 3rd, 1-1: During his career, Mark Reynolds has always taken the approach to hacking at the plate. He'd either crush the ball or striking out swinging.
Heading into this one, he owned a paltry .136 average with no homers and three RBIs, but destroyed Lester's pitch and sent it over the Green Monster for his first round-tripper of the season.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: Cody Ross looked headed to an inside-the-park home run when he a belted a ball that was lodged in center field.
After passing past third base, he was ordered to stay. Still, he showed off some decent baserunning skills when Chen tossed a passed ball.
Ross managed to score, but shielded himself, wisely.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: Jon Lester's sinker has been looking sharp through two innings.
After facing four batters, he induced grounders on six occasions. He's channeling his inner Aaron Cook, I guess.
Speaking of Cook, he was very happy about his promotion and believed he made the right choice in choosing the Red Sox. We'll have a story on it after the game.
End 1st, 0-0: After going six games without an error, the Orioles committed two miscues in the first inning.
Robert Andino and Mark Reynolds both had throwing errors that prolonged an inning that should've been a routine 1-2-3 appearance for Chen. But the Red Sox couldn't capitalize as David Ortiz grounded out.
Mid 1st, 0-0: Surprise, surprise. There weren't any boos for Robert Andino, who collected the game-winning hit in last year's season-finale to knock out the Red Sox from playoff contention.
It's a pretty sparse crowd here, but still, you would expect some type of negative reaction. I guess Luke Scott is more of an enemy to Boston fans than Andino.
3:21 p.m.: Here are the lineups.
Red Sox
Mike Aviles SS,
Will Middlebrooks 3B,
Adrian Gonzalez 1B,
Dustin Pedroia 2B,
David Ortiz DH,
Cody Ross RF,
Darnell McDonald LF,
Marlon Byrd CF,
Kelly Shoppach C,
Jon Lester P
Orioles
Robert Andino, 2B
J.J. Hardy, SS
Nick Markakis, RF
Adam Jones, CF
Matt Wieters, DH
Wilson Betemit, LF
Chris Davis, 1B
Mark Reynolds, 3B
Ronny Paulino, C
Wei-Yin Chen, P
8 a.m. ET: After dropping the last two games in the series against Oakland, the Red Sox (11-13) are looking to get back on track against the AL East rival, Orioles (16-9).
Red Sox starter Jon Lester will have his hands full, considering Baltimore's offense has been a pleasant surprise to start the season. Catcher Matt Wieters and outfielder Adam Jones have combined to tally 13 homers.
But Lester is coming off his best outing in April, when he tossed seven scoreless innings against the White Sox while racking up seven strikeouts. The lefty, who is 1-2 with a 4.65 ERA, has a 2.36 lifetime ERA against the Orioles. He'll take the mound against Wei-Yin Chen, who is 2-0 with a 2.22 ERA, and recently notched a win over Oakland.
For details and analysis from Fenway, follow NESN.com's live blog. Tune into NESN's pregame show at 6 p.m. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
