Red Sox Notes: Wasted Middle Innings Prove Costly For Boston

The Boston Red Sox dropped another division series Sunday, losing the Little League Classic to the Baltimore Orioles in Williamsport, PA.

The Red Sox were able to tie the game in the top of the eighth inning off a Franchy Cordero home run. His homer evened things up but seemingly woke everyone up around him, following a five-inning drought in the middle of the game.

Part of that drought was thanks to Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta, who enjoyed another strong outing.

“I think Nick threw the ball great,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “Breaking ball was good. He had them fooled. They were late on fastballs, out in front on breaking balls. Overall, it was a great outing.”

Baltimore’s immediate response was enough for them to pull away, as Orioles batters were patient against a struggling Boston bullpen. Baltimore drew two walks and a hit by pitch in the eighth inning to load the bases. One cement-truck breaking ball later, the game was out of reach.

Boston’s inability to score in the middle of the game allowed Baltimore to coast on a lead, and ultimately pull away late in the game as they knew how they would need to respond.

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Here are more notes from Sunday’s Red Sox-Orioles game:

— Cordero has five Major-League home runs this season, all of which have come on Sunday. He also became the first Red Sox pinch hitter to hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning or later since Darnell McDonald on April 20, 2010 vs the Texas Rangers, per ESPN Stats and Info.

— Pivetta struck out nine of the 25 Orioles batters he faced. It was his third-highest strikeout total on the season, trailing his starts on June 9 and June 19th.

— Xander Bogaerts hit his 10th home run of the year on Sunday, a 99.2 mph fastball. It’s the hardest-thrown pitch he’s ever hit for a homer. The previous high was 98.8 mph in 2019, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.

— The Red Sox will return to Fenway Park on Tuesday, opening a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET following an hour of pregame coverage. You can catch it all with NESN 360.