The Boston Red Sox keep on rolling.
In the series finale against the Orioles on Wednesday, the Sox completed the three-game sweep with a 5-1 matinee victory over Baltimore at Camden Yards, becoming the first MLB team to reach 47 wins this season.
Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez each went deep in the victory, while Chris Sale tossed six innings of one-run ball.
Boston improves to 47-22 with the victory, while the Orioles fall to 19-48.
Here’s how the game unfolded:
GAME IN A WORD
Dominant.
From Sale’s pitching to the Sox’s offense, it hardly was a narrow contest from start to finish.
ON THE BUMP
— Sale breezed through the first inning, retiring the side in order and picking up his first strikeout. He struck out the first two batters for the second frame before barely hitting Mark Trumbo with a fastball, but he got a groundball out to end the inning two pitches later. Sale gave up a walk in the third inning, but no damage was done as he struck out the side, upping his K total to six.
The veteran left-hander allowed a walk and a single in the fourth inning and threw a ton of pitches, but the Orioles couldn’t advance past second base and were held scoreless in the frame. Sale threw a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth and pitched a scoreless sixth, while upping his strikeout total to nine in the process with a K in each frame.
Sale walked the first two batters in the seventh inning, and that was the end of his outing. He still managed to get ejected, though, as he yelled something to the home plate umpire from the dugout and got himself tossed for the second time in his career.
In total, Sale pitched six innings and allowed one earned run and two hits. He also walked four and struck out nine.
— Brandon Workman relieved Sale and allowed an inherited runner to score on a sacrifice fly — a run that was charged to Sale. It was the only damage Workman allowed in the frame.
— Justin Haley made his Red Sox debut, walking one in a hitless, scoreless eighth inning. He then allowed two hits in a scoreless ninth to end the game.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Andrew Benintendi collected Boston’s first hit on a fly ball single down the left field line, and he advanced to second base when the Orioles mishandled the ball in left field. The Sox couldn’t produce any runs in the inning, though.
— Boston got on the board in the third inning when Betts hit his 19th home run of the season, a solo shot, to center field.
— Betts and Benintendi each walked in the fifth inning, and Betts eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Xander Bogaerts to give Boston a 2-0 lead. J.D Martinez later walked, and Rafael Devers drove Benintendi home with an RBI single to left field, putting the Sox ahead 3-0. Boston continued to pile on runs when Eduardo Nunez drove in Martinez with a single. The play at the plate was close, but Martinez was safe after a review. The inning ended when Brock Holt struck out with runners on second and third.
— Martinez put the Sox up 5-0 with a solo homer to right field in the seventh inning. It was his 22nd home run of the year.
TWEET OF THE GAME
A topical tweet from the Red Sox.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox resume their 10-game road trip with a Thursday night game in Seattle against the Mariners. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 p.m. ET. David Price will get the ball for Boston and will be opposed by “King” Felix Hernandez.
