Red Sox Notes: Boston’s Effort ‘Not Enough’ To Complete Comeback Vs. Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles held on to win a crazy game over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Saturday night.

It was the first time in franchise history that the Red Sox recorded 23 hits in a nine-inning game and lost.

After recording two runs in the final frame, Enmanuel Valdez stepped up to the plate with the speedy Trevor Story 90 feet from tying the game and Wilyer Abreu on first for the go-ahead run. Unfortunately for Boston, Valdez flied out to left securing the win for Baltimore.

“Love the effort, love the at-bats,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Not enough, obviously. … We haven’t played good defense throughout the season and pitching has been on and off. It’s tough. So we gotta keep grinding.

“Everybody’s giving their best effort out there. We’re putting guys in situations that are really, really tough now; as far as usage and all that. But we’re all in. We’re trying, which is the most important thing.”

The Red Sox saw every batter, with the exception of Triston Casas, record a hit on the night with seven recording multiple hits. Casas reached base in the ninth when he drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases.

“Nobody’s quitting here,” Cora said. “It was good to see the guys trying so hard and picking each other up. It was fun to watch that part.”

Among the batters with multiple hits was Story who finished the night 3-for-6 with two RBIs and a run scored.

“He played a good game. His at-bats and his swings are better now. He’s playing disciplined,” Cora said. “He put in good at-bats and we got to keep working hard. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. These are the big leagues and you miss so much time and to find it here is hard. But, he’s a hard worker. The group has done an amazing job with him and hopefully today is the beginning of something right.”

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

— Chris Sale dropped to 0-2 against the Orioles this season over three starts. He has allowed 19 runs, 18 earned, over 12 innings pitched against Baltimore with an ERA of 13.50. On Saturday, he allowed seven runs, six earned, on seven hits including two home runs.

“He had good stuff early on,” Cora said. “Then there was a slider there for a double. … I think early on, he was able to expand with the slider, then after that, you know the one to (Aaron) Hicks. He wanted it down, to rip it through the strike zone and it stayed down and in. A good spot for him to put a good swing on.

“It’s a tough one of course. But you gotta keep going. He’s grinding. It’s something we knew coming from the injury but this is what we want right here and he wants to pitch. That’s the most important thing. He has some good ones, some bad ones. It’s not lack of effort. We got to execute a little better in certain spots. We got to keep pushing him to find it, and we will do that.”

— Rafael Devers set a season high in hits, going 4-for-6 from the dish with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. His last four-hit night was on Sept. 18, 2022, against the Kansas City Royals.

— With the loss, the Red Sox are 3-9 in their last 12 games while dropping to 20-18 against American League East opponents. Boston fell to 47-20 when scoring first, 65-25 when recording four or more runs and 57-42 when hitting a home run. The Red Sox also fell to 23-20-3 in series play, including 13-10-0 at Fenway.

— The Red Sox look to end their four-game losing streak in the series finale against the Orioles. First pitch from Fenway is slated for 1:35 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action starting with an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.