Well, that was a game the Boston Red Sox are going to want to put in their rear-view mirror.
Despite all their offensive feats Wednesday — Mookie Betts and Chris Young hit two home runs apiece and Xander Bogaerts extended his hitting streak — the Red Sox had a poor showing on the other side of the ball. Starter Joe Kelly was tagged for seven runs and couldn’t make it out of the third inning, and the taxed bullpen had similarly bad results in the 13-9 loss.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Sloppy.
Even the Orioles aren’t going home particularly happy with their win. Their pitching staff allowed five home runs to the Red Sox, and Boston’s was equally bad between Kelly’s disastrous start and the bullpen’s six earned runs.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
Hanley Ramirez grounded out in the eighth inning with the bases loaded.
Though it’s not exactly a piece of cake to hit a two-out grand slam, Ramirez still represented the tying run with the score at 13-9. But the first baseman grounding out without getting a single runner across the plate really killed the momentum and gave the Red Sox the tall task of playing catch-up in the ninth.
ON THE BUMP
— Kelly was bad; there’s no nicer way of putting it. The right-hander simply didn’t have control and wound up surrendering four runs in the first inning. He continued to struggle, too, coming to a sputtering stop after seven hits, seven runs, three walks, one strikeout and 2 1/3 innings.
— Tommy Layne came on in relief in the third and allowed Kelly’s final runner to score on an RBI single to Orioles third baseman Ryan Flaherty. Shortstop Manny Machado drove in another run off Layne, who finished the third with one run on two hits with a walk.
— Clay Buchholz took the mound in the fourth and pitched two scoreless innings before unraveling a bit in the sixth and giving up two runs, although only one of them was earned. He finished his relief outing with four runs (three earned) on three hits with four walks and a strikeout over 3 1/3 innings.
— Matt Barnes came on in the seventh for Buchholz and allowed his two inherited runners to score with a walk and an RBI single. The right-hander allowed one of his own to score, too, but he came back in the eighth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Barnes finished his night with one run on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts over 1 2/3 innings.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Despite the loss, it still was a huge offensive night for the Red Sox, and Betts made a lot of noise again. The right fielder hit solo home runs in the first and second innings to go 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs and two walks.
— Bogaerts extended his MLB-best hitting streak to 25 games in the sixth inning and finished the night 1-for-5.
— Young had a good night, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, two runs, three RBIs and a walk.
— Dustin Pedroia went 3-for-5 with an RBI, while David Ortiz went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI from a solo shot.
— Travis Shaw and Ryan Hanigan each went 2-for-5. Shaw scored two runs, and Hanigan hit a two RBI single and a run.
— Hanley Ramirez (0-for-5) and Blake Swihart (0-for-4) both went hitless, but Swihart had a walk and a run.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Hey, that pitching performance wasn’t great, but things could always be worse.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox finish their series in Baltimore on Thursday in another 7:05 p.m. ET contest. Rick Porcello will match up against Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
