BOSTON — The Red Sox still haven’t lost a series in 2015.
Mother Nature forced the umpires to call Monday’s game at Fenway Park in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t before the Red Sox took care of business against the Baltimore Orioles. The Sox earned a 7-1 win in the rain-shortened, Patriots’ Day affair, salvaging a series split with the O’s.
The Red Sox, who improved to 8-5 with the victory, are 3-0-1 in four series so far this season. Boston now heads out on a six-game road trip after going 4-3 in its first homestand of the new campaign.
Let’s go over some notes from Monday’s action.
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— The umpires called the game after a 1-hour, 42-minute rain delay.
The Red Sox last played a rain-shortened game at Fenway on April 23, 2013, against the Oakland Athletics. That game was called after seven innings, and Boston lost 13-0.
— The Red Sox are 69-51 all-time on Patriots’ Day. They’ve won 11 of their last 15 Patriots’ Day showdowns.
— Only two of Boston’s seven runs were earned. The Red Sox scored four unearned runs off Wei-Yin Chen in the third inning behind one hit, four walks and two errors.
The Red Sox have been benefiting from sloppy play by their opponents of late. The Washington Nationals, whom the Red Sox beat twice earlier this week, also played like garbage defensively.
— The Red Sox, who walked six times, drew 20 walks in their four-game series against the Orioles.
— Mookie Betts snagged his fourth base. The Red Sox are 9-for-9 on stolen-base attempts this season.
— Boston is 6-0 when scoring first.
— Justin Masterson pitched well while earning his second win. The Red Sox are 3-0 in Masterson’s starts this season, even though his second outing was disappointing.
— Masterson’s start was his second career Patriots’ Day start with the Red Sox. He also started Boston’s 2009 Patriots’ Day game against Baltimore, which he won while allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings.
— Masterson might be able to retire major league hitters. But if you ask the right-hander, it pales in comparison to running the Boston Marathon.
“I don’t know. The way I was watching on TV, it looks like it’s pretty simple to run 26.2 (miles) in this slop,” Masterson said smiling. “But no, I don’t think there’s any comparison. Never in my life would I want to run that far. But I am amazed by the people that can do that.”
— Betts is hitting just .196 following a 1-for-4 effort. He snapped an 0-for-11 skid by going the other way for a single in the first inning, though, and showed some encouraging signs at the plate throughout.
“The last couple days, Mookie’s swings have been a little bit more spring training-like, in that there’s more rhythm at the plate,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “He was getting pitched to for a couple, three games in a row where he might have been guessing a little bit, chasing some breaking balls out of the strike zone.
“He was more fluid, you could see the rhythm in his hands, much more free and easy. Usually results in better bat speed and better swings on his part.”
— David Ortiz’s first-inning sacrifice fly gave him 1,537 career RBIs, moving him into a tie with Joe DiMaggio for 46th place on MLB’s all-time list.
— Mike Napoli finally recorded his first RBI of 2015. He drew a bases-loaded walk in the third inning.
— Hanley Ramirez left the game after the second inning due to illness, but Farrell said he expects the slugger to be available for Tuesday’s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
