BOSTON — The Baltimore Orioles had the inside track on a victory Sunday even before scoring three runs in the sixth inning to break the game open. But it’s still fair to question the Boston Red Sox’s logic.
Red Sox manager John Farrell made the right call Saturday by squeezing one more inning out of starter Clay Buchholz, though the Orioles ultimately prevailed 4-1. Farrell attempted to do the same Sunday with Porcello clearly laboring, and the decision backfired, as Baltimore tightened its grip on the contest.
Buchholz had thrown just 89 pitches through five innings Saturday, but he also had allowed 11 hits and was coming off a frame in which he tossed 24 pitches while navigating through a no-out, bases-loaded jam. While it was reasonable to leave in Buchholz for the sixth, which he breezed through on 13 pitches, it wasn’t a slam dunk by any means given what had transpired up until that point.
Farrell faced a similar situation Sunday, as Porcello came back out for the sixth inning with his pitch count at 96. The right-hander had allowed two runs on three singles, a walk and a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, and while the O’s found some holes, it was clear Porcello didn’t have his best stuff.
“Where we were with pitch count, felt like he was still strong enough,” Farrell said of the decision to stick with Porcello in the sixth. “But in a matter of six pitches, there’s three runs on the board. But yeah, trying to get him through the sixth inning.”
Porcello threw four consecutive offspeed pitches to open the sixth as the Orioles loaded the bases. He plunked Caleb Joseph, Everth Cabrera reached on a bunt single that third baseman Pablo Sandoval should have let go foul rather than pick up, and Jimmy Paredes singled into center field.
If there was any thought to removing Porcello before the inning started, it should have been a no-brainer after Paredes’ single, especially with red-hot Adam Jones digging in. Farrell said he wanted to at least get to Chris Davis before turning to Craig Breslow for a left-on-left matchup, though, and unfortunately for the Red Sox, it was one batter too late.
Jones, who homered in the first inning, cleared the bases with a three-run double off the wall in left-center field. He’s batting .571 (20-for-35) with five homers and 14 RBIs over the course of a nine-game hit streak, and he has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games at Fenway Park (26-for-63 in those games).
“I just didn’t execute. That was the bottom line,” Porcello said while assessing his start. “I made a lot of mistakes, fell behind in counts, walked three guys, gave up big hits with runners on base. Just not a good recipe.”
Porcello was charged with all eight runs Sunday while matching a career high with 12 hits allowed. It was the first time in three outings with the Red Sox that Porcello failed to produce a quality start, and he now has surrendered five home runs in 19 innings pitched.
“You’ve got to have a short memory and turn the page,” Porcello said.
That’s really the only thing to do at this point. The page just should have started turning Sunday an inning earlier than it did.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
