The Boston Red Sox continued to play excellent baseball Tuesday night, and it couldn’t be happening at a better time.
The Red Sox got a great outing from left-handed starter Eduardo Rodriguez, and Mookie Betts, David Ortiz and Jackie Bradley Jr. provided the offense as Boston beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 at Camden Yards.
Here’s how this one went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Six.
OK, so it’s a number, but it’ll have to do. The Red Sox now have won six straight games, all of which have come against American League East opponents. As a result, their playoff chances continue to increase by the day.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
David Ortiz hit a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.
The Red Sox were only up by one at the time and in need of some insurance runs. Big Papi was more than happy to help with his 36th homer of the season, which proved to be the difference.
ON THE BUMP
— Rodriguez was in need of a bounce-back performance following his rough outing against the New York Yankees in his last start, and that’s exactly what he got. The left-hander didn’t allow a baserunner until he walked Manny Machado in the fourth inning. He also had a no-hitter going though 4 2/3 innings, but Trey Mancini broke it up with a solo home run in his MLB debut.
Rodriguez allowed two earned runs on four hits and one walk while striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings.
— Matt Barnes tried to finish off the seventh inning, but he only got one out before he was given the hook. He allowed two hits and one inherited run to score. Brad Ziegler got Boston out of the jam, though.
— Koji Uehara had a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, which he capped off with a strikeout of Mark Trumbo.
— Craig Kimbrel closed the win out in the ninth. He allowed a two-out walk, but that was his only blemish.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Rick Porcello isn’t the only Red Sox with a chance to win a major award this season. Mookie Betts became the first player in Major League Baseball to reach 200 hits this season thanks to his singles in the first and third innings. He also had Boston’s first run of the night when he scored on a Hanley Ramirez RBI groundout in the third. Betts finished the night 3-for-5.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. (2-for-4) increased Boston’s lead to 2-0 in the fourth when he hit his 26th home run of the season.
— And then Big Papi did what Big Papi does best: hit clutch home runs. Ortiz gave Boston a much-needed cushion with his 36th home run of the season in the top of the seventh inning. He went 2-for-5 with three RBIs.
–Xander Bogaerts (1-for-5), Chris Young (2-for-4) and Marco Hernandez (1-for-4) all had hits.
— Ramirez (0-for-3), Travis Shaw (0-for-4) and Sandy Leon (0-for-4) all went hitless, although Ramirez had the RBI groundout and reached on a walk.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Keeping it 100 (twice).
UP NEXT
The four-game series between Boston and Baltimore will continue Wednesday with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch from Camden Yards. The Red Sox will send Clay Buchholz to the mound, and the Orioles will counter with Ubaldo Jimenez.
Thumbnail photo via Evan Habeeb/USA TODAY Sports Images
