Red Sox-Orioles Notes: Mike Napoli Notches First Homer Of Season In Loss

Mike Napoli led the Boston Red Sox with six home runs in spring training, but it took him 18 games to hit his first homer of the regular season.

Boston’s first baseman belted a two-run homer off the right field foul pole at Camden Yards to tie the score 2-2 in the top of the second inning in Saturday night’s 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Napoli made contact with the end of his bat, but it didn’t matter because there was so much power behind the swing.

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Napoli went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored from the fifth spot in the lineup. It was his first three-hit game of the season. He had seven such games in 2014.

— The top of the ninth inning was a wild one. A leadoff walk for Dustin Pedroia started the Boston rally, which included two infield singles on balls that hit the tip of fielders’ gloves. With the bases loaded and one out, Pablo Sandoval hit a hard ground ball down the third base line that should have resulted in a game-ending double play, but Orioles third baseman Manny Machado tagged the base for the force out and then missed on his throw to first base. The ball went into the stands, which allowed Pedroia to score the tying run.

The Red Sox nearly scored the go-ahead run when Orioles reliever Zach Britton threw a pitch into the dirt, but the ball caromed off Baltimore catcher Caleb Joseph and hit the home plate umpire’s foot. A few inches left or right and the ball would have gone all the way to the back stop, which would have given the runner at third a chance to score.

Allen Craig struck out with runners on second and third to end the inning.

— Ten of Boston’s 11 runs in this series have come via the long ball. David Ortiz, Brock Holt and Hanley Ramirez hit homers Friday, while Xander Bogaerts and Napoli went deep Saturday. Bogaerts and Napoli’s homers were their first of the season. The Sox rank sixth in the American League with 20 home runs.

— The Red Sox left five men on base and went 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Boston didn’t tally a single hit in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

— Koji Uehara picked up his third save of the season in Friday’s 7-5 win. He blew his first save of the year in the 10th inning Saturday, which also resulted in his first loss. A leadoff triple by Adam Jones started Baltimore’s rally. Jones scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Davis, and then David Lough, who was pinch hitting for left fielder Travis Snider, hit a walk-off homer into the right field seats. Lough was able to take advantage of a splitter that lacked movement.

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— Brock Holt didn’t play Saturday after hitting a three-run homer in Friday’s win. Allen Craig started in right field and batted seventh in place of Shane Victorino, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the game.

— Orioles infielder Jimmy Paredes is 5-for-10 with three runs scored, a home run and four RBIs in the first two games of this weekend series.