The Baltimore Orioles jumped on the Boston Red Sox early and often Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
The O’s pummeled Red Sox starting pitcher Steven Wright en route to a 12-5 win and a split of the short two-game series.
Wright was unable to escape the second inning as his patented knuckleball didn’t fool anyone on this cool April night. The Red Sox’s offense did what it could to get Wright off the hook but the deficit was too large to overcome.
The Red Sox fall to 4-4 with the loss, while the O’s improve to 5-2.
Here’s how this one went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Rough.
The Red Sox dug themselves a nine-run hole early on and never were able to fully climb out.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Wright surrendered six first-inning runs and couldn’t get out of the second inning.
ON THE BUMP
— It wasn’t Wright’s night. The knuckleballer lasted only 1 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs on eight hits, including four home runs.
Wright hit right fielder Seth Smith with the first pitch of the game. He would then surrender a one-out double to Manny Machado to give the O’s runners at second and third with one out. Chris Davis would drive in a run with an RBI groundout, and Mark Trumbo followed with a run-scoring single to give Baltimore a quick 2-0 lead.
After a Welington Castillo single, Trey Mancini hit a three-run opposite-field home run to make it 5-0. Jonathan Schoop hit the very next pitch over the Green Monster for a solo home run and the O’s had a six-run lead.
Adam Jones opened the second inning with a big fly to stretch the lead to 7-0. Davis went deep two batters later to make it an eight-run deficit, and that was the end of the night for Wright.
— Ben Taylor relieved Wright and performed valiantly in 3 2/3 innings of relief. He gave up only one run on three hits while striking out three. The only run he surrendered came on Mancini’s second home run of the game.
— Fernando Abad made his season debut in the sixth inning and lasted an inning-plus, giving up one run on two hits.
— Joe Kelly came in for Abad with a runner on first and no outs in the top of the seventh inning. Trumbo greeted Kelly with a single and Castillo followed with a two-run double to give the O’s an 11-5 lead. Schoop would drive Castillo home two batters later to give Baltimore a seven-run lead. Kelly allowed two runs on three hits in two innings.
— Robby Scott tossed a scoreless ninth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox started a rally in the bottom of the third inning. Chris Young opened the inning with a double and Sandy Leon followed with an infield single. Andrew Benintendi would get the Red Sox on the board with a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Young.
— Boston would put another dent in the Orioles’ lead in the fourth inning. Hanley Ramirez led off with a double and Xander Bogaerts would drive him home with an RBI single to make it 9-2. Pablo Sandoval was next up and he launched a two-run home run to trim the lead to five.
— The Red Sox loaded the bases with one out in the fifth inning to chase Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Mychal Givens relieved Jimenez and immediately allowed an RBI single to Bogaerts to cut the O’s lead to four. Â But Givens would strike out Sandoval and get Young to fly out to leave the bases loaded.
— Mitch Moreland doubled in his sixth consecutive game.
— Dustin Pedroia extended his hitting streak to eight games with a leadoff single in the first inning.
— Bogaerts broke out of his early-season slump going 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
TWEET OF THE DAY
An ode to Buck Showalter.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to Fenway Park for a makeup game Thursday. Eduardo Rodriguez will get the ball for Boston and he will be opposed by Chad Kuhl for the Pirates. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
