There was no 10th-inning comeback in the cards, as the Red Sox went down in order in the final frame to end this one.
Middle 10th, Orioles 8-6: You can't walk the leadoff hitter, especially this late in the game.
That's exactly what Alfredo Aceves did in the 10th inning, though, and it hurt him dearly. That walk, combined with a sacrifice and three singles lead to a two-run 10th inning for the Orioles.
That was what the Red Sox had to fight off in the ninth inning, and they'll have to do the same in the 10th.
End 9th, 6-6: As expected, the Saltalamacchia home run stands.
The homer, his 11th of the season, ties the game at 6-6.
We're headed for extra innings after Johnson was able to retire Ryan Sweeney to end the inning.
Bottom 9th, 6-6: We may have a tie game.
With two outs in the ninth inning, and a man on base, Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit what appeared to be a game-tying home run.
The blast looked to get over the deciding line on the Green Monster, but it's currently under review.
Middle 9th, Orioles 6-4: Red Sox closer Alfredo Aceves came on in the ninth to get some work in, and he looked very sharp in doing so.
The right-hander worked a clean ninth, adding the punctuation mark by striking out Matt Wieters to end the inning.
The Sox will look to make a comeback against Jim Johnson with the heart of the order due up.
End 8th, Orioles 6-4: Pedro Strop, as he's done all year, works another fine inning.
He sends the Sox down in order in the eighth.
Middle 8th, Orioles 6-4: The Red Sox now have six outs to work with, starting in the bottom of the eighth after Matt Albers cruises through a 1-2-3 inning.
The Red Sox will have Daniel Nava, Mike Aviles and Scott Podsednik due in the eighth, and they've combined for (check that) five hits tonight.
They'll do battle with Pedro Strop.
End 7th, Orioles 6-4: The Red Sox threatened in the seventh thanks to a double off the bat of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but they couldn't do anything with it, as Ayala was able to strike out Ryan Sweeney to end the inning.
Bottom 7th, Orioles 6-4: Troy Patton gets David Ortiz to chase one, and Ortiz goes down on strikes to end the night for Patton.
Luis Ayala comes on for the Orioles.
Middle 7th, Orioles 6-4: Matt Albers wasn't much better than Scott Atchison in the seventh inning.
The right-hander gave up a pair of singles upon entering, giving the Orioles a two-run lead.
Albers settled down, albeit a little too late, by getting Ronny Paulino to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Top 7th, 4-4: Scott Atchison has been terrific all season long for the Red Sox, but he struggled mightily in this one.
The veteran right-hander allowed singles to the first two men he faced, the second of which was a RBI single for J.J. Hardy.
He was able to get a fielder's choice, but after an intentional walk to Matt Wieters, Bobby Valentine came out to get the ball.
Matt Albers will try to work out of a bases loaded, one-out jam.
Top 7th, Red Sox 4-3: Jon Lester surrenders a single to Endy Chavez to open the seventh inning, and that ends Lester's night.
Scott Atchison is the new Boston pitcher.
End 6th, Red Sox 4-3: Sometimes you get offense from unexpected places. That's certainly been the case for the Red Sox in this one.
Mike Aviles has three hits, including a game-tying RBI single in the sixth inning. That was followed up by a Scott Podsednik sacrifice fly to center field to give the Red Sox their first lead of the night. Podsednik, hitting out of the leadoff hole, now has a walk, a hit and the sac fly.
Bottom 6th, Orioles 3-2: Troy Patton will begin the sixth on the mound for the Orioles, replacing Jason Hammel who is now in line to win his seventh game of the season.
Middle 6th, Orioles 3-2: The Orioles continue to be pesky, as they take the lead in the top of the sixth, a half-inning after the Red Sox tied things up.
Matt Wieters continued his nice night with a line-drive double to right, and he would eventually come around to score on a Steve Pearce sacrifice fly.
End 5th, 2-2: The Orioles took advantage of a Mike Aviles error in the second inning, and the Red Sox returned the favor in the fifth.
Mark Reynolds' error allowed runners to reach first and second to begin the inning, and when Scott Podsednik laid down a sacrifice bunt, Reynolds made a head-scratching decision. Instead of taking the out at first, Reynolds instead threw across the diamond to try and gun down the lead runner. That wasn't a good idea.
The ball got away from third baseman Steve Pearce, allowing all of the runners to advance, making Ryan Sweeney the first Boston run. Dustin Pedroia followed with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Like the two Baltimore runs in the second, both of the Boston runs in the fifth go as unearned.
Middle 5th, Orioles 2-0: Lester looked to be the victim of a bad call to lead of the inning, as Robert Andino was called safe on a play at first. The replay seemed to say otherwise.
Lester was able to bounce back and make a pitch, inducing a 6-4-3 double play off of his nemesis, J.J. Hardy.
He then got Adam Jones swinging on a 92 mph fastball to end the inning.
End 4th, Orioles 2-0: Jason Hammel has been a nice get for the Orioles this season, and he has been really good tonight.
He just tossed another scoreless frame, his fourth of the night, to help preserve the two-run lead.
He was able to work around a Jarrod Saltalamacchia single, a ball that was absolutely smoked off the wall in left. He continues to have a nice year, entering this game with an 0PS of .867, which would rank among the top catchers in baseball if he qualified.
Middle 4th, Orioles 2-0: That might be just Jon Lester needed there in the fourth inning.
Lester was able to get three groundouts, and he needed just 10 pitches to do so.
There's not much Lester can to do, though, to help the Sox batters figure out Jason Hammel who has been terrific through three innings.
8:15 p.m.: We mentioned earlier the news of Daniel Bard being sent to Pawtucket. Here's a snippet of what pitching coach Bob McClure had to say about the move.
"When I talked to him a little bit, it was [to say] keep it simple, what got you to this point is what you need to get back to whatever, whether it's a starter or a reliever," McClure said. "Not trying to do too many things. Attack the strike zone, maybe with just two pitches and perhaps a third with the changeup. … The best thing he can do is, from a mental standpoint, is just keeping it simple. Not trying to do too many things with too many pitches."
Be sure to check back to NESN.com later for more on Bard.
End 3rd, Orioles 2-0: The Red Sox threatened to score in the third after one-out singles from Scott Podsednik and Mike Aviles, but Jason Hammel was able to get out of it unscathed.
Hammel blew away Dustin Pedroia for the second time in two at-bats, this time with a 96 mph fastball. The right-hander then got Adrian Gonzalez to ground out to shortstop to end the inning.
Middle 3rd, Orioles 2-0: The Orioles lineup is good, especially Adam Jones and Matt Wieters, and if you give them extra outs, they're probably going to make you pay.
Just ask Jon Lester.
The big left-hander just allowed the first runs of the night a pair of RBI singles from Jones and Wieters.
It probably wouldn't have gotten that far, though, had Mike Aviles been able to turn a double play earlier in the inning. Instead, his error extened the inning, and the O's made Lester pay.
They're also making him work, too, as Lester has now thrown 60 pitches.
End 2nd, 0-0: Jason Hammel is only averaging one walk for every three innings he's pitched this year, but he already has issued two free passes in this one.
Neither have hurt yet, though, with Hammels doing a nice job of settling down.
He also has three strikeouts to go along with the pair of base on balls.
Middle 2nd, 0-0: Jon Lester looks very good early on, something that shouldn't come as much of a surprise with the Orioles on the other side of the diamond.
Lester just breezed through a 1-2-3 second, an inning capped by a strikeout of Ronny Paulino. Lester used the curveball to get Paulino after using the fastball for his two first-inning strikeouts.
This would be a good time to remind you that he has a 14-0 record with a 2.47 ERA in 19 career starts against the Birds.
End 1st, 0-0: Jason Hammel committed the Cardinal sin as a pitcher by walking the leadoff hitter, Scott Podsednik.
He was able to avoid getting into further trouble, with a little bit of help from his catcher.
Matt Wieters was able to gun down Podsednik for the second out of the inning.
Dustin Pedroia struck out in his first at-bat since returning, after being blown away by a 94 mph fastball from Hammel.
Middle 1st, 0-0: Jon Lester looked to be in some early danger when he gave up a one-out triple to J.J. Hardy. However, Lester was able to work around that three-bagger, as he came back to strike out both Adam Jones and Matt Wieters on fastballs.
Hardy owns Lester, though, as that was his fifth career hit off of the left-hander in just nine at-bats.
7:11 p.m.: Jon Lester's first pitch to Robert Andino is fouled off and we're under way from Fenway Park.
7:01 p.m.: Just a quick note on Will Middlebrooks as pregame ceremonies continue from Fenway.
Bobby Valentine was asked about the third baseman, who hasn't played since June 2.
According to Valentine, Middlebrooks is fine — better than fine even — but it's just a matter of working out the lineups right now.
There Red Sox are set to face two left-handers over the next couple of nights, and Valentine said you can expect to see the young third baseman back in there again.
5:50 p.m.: So far, the news of the day has been the demotion of Daniel Bard. However, it's also a noteworthy night as Dustin Pedroia is returning to the lineup after missing a week of action with a torn adductor muscle in his thumb.
Bobby Valentine said the second baseman was feeling "perfect" and he's ready to return to the lineup.
"He has no reservations about doing all that he has to do out on the baseball field," Valentine said. "There's no swelling, there's no pain. there's 100 percent green light from the training room."
Valentine also said that Pedroia will play with a brace on the thumb, but he doesn't expect it to be an issue, saying that it might actually help Pedroia.
5:42 p.m.: We'll have much more from Bobby Valentine on the roster move that will send Daniel Bard to Pawtucket, but here's an initial quote from the Red Sox manager.
"The factors were that last time out he had a real tough time locating his pitches," Valentine said. "Ben and I and his department met yesterday, and we all met with the coaches today, and we thought the best for the organization and Daniel was to get in an environment where he could just work on that mechanic and not have to worry about the big league record and his teammates. I think it will be a quick turnaround."
5:30 p.m.: Welcome to an overcast Fenway Park where the Red Sox just wrapped up batting practice.
The big news of the day is that Daniel Bard has been sent down to Pawtucket, where he'll work on trying to correct his mechanics.
We'll have more on that in just a little bit.
Here are the starting lineups for this one:
Red Sox
Scott Podsednik, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Ryan Sweeney, RF
Daniel Nava, LF
Mike Aviles, SS
Orioles
Robert Andino, 2B
J.J. Hardy, SS
Adam Jones, CF
Matt Wieters, C
Mark Reynolds, 1B
Steve Pearce, LF
Ronny Paulino, DH
Steve Tolleson, 3B
Endy Chavez, RF
8 a.m. ET: The Red Sox (28-26) are returning from a brief trip in Toronto and have a chance to continue their push up the American League East standings when they open a three-game series against the Orioles tonight (30-24). The last time the two teams played, Boston wound up taking two out of three games in Baltimore. Although Jon Lester didn't pitch in that series, the lefty will look to maintain the team's winning ways when he takes the mound this time.
Lester has only made one start against the Orioles this season — on May 4 — and got a no-decision after going six innings while allowing five hits and three runs. Throughout his career, Lester has flourished against the Orioles, going a perfect 14-0 with a 2.47 ERA in 19 starts. His counterpart, Orioles starter Jason Hammel, is coming off a subpar outing, where he allowed four solo shots to the Blue Jays.
For more 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.
