Red Sox Wrap: Boston’s Late Rally Falls Short In Loss To Orioles

BOSTON — The Red Sox offense largely disappeared after a 12-run outburst in the series opener as they fell to the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Boston dropped to 73-72 on the season while the Orioles improved to 83-63.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Red Sox got what they needed out of Kutter Crawford against the Orioles. But Boston’s offense didn’t back up Crawford. Neither did the Red Sox bullpen.

Crawford delivered a quality start, tossing 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts. The right-hander gave up two home runs, a massive issue for Crawford as he leads all of MLB with 31 homers surrendered.

But as Red Sox manager Alex Cora would say, Crawford gave the Red Sox enough. Boston just didn’t capitalize on it.

The Red Sox offense was stymied by Orioles starting pitcher Albert Suárez. He’s not exactly a Cy Young candidate but held down Boston’s bats anyways by recording a career-high eight strikeouts in six innings.

Even with all that, the Red Sox were in striking distance, trailing 3-1 in the late innings. Boston’s bullpen changed that though. Brennan Bernardino allowed two singles and a walk in the seventh inning before Cora turned to Luis Guerrero, who made his MLB debut Sunday, in a bases loaded situation with two outs. Guerrero couldn’t close the door, leading to two runs, which proved huge with Boston scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth.

It ended up being the fourth straight loss for Crawford, but he really deserved better.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Cedric Mullins powered the Orioles offense and is turning into a Red Sox killer. He had a gust of wind help what looked like a routine fly ball to right turn into a solo home run wrapped around Pesky Pole in the top of the first inning. Mullins’ two-run homer in the third inning was no fluke as he crushed it 407 feet to right field. He finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a stolen base.

— Connor Wong was the only member of the Red Sox with two hits. He collected two doubles as part of a 2-for-3 night and scored Boston’s only run on an RBI double by Triston Casas.

— Adley Rutschman provided critical insurance late in the contest. He laced a two-run single off Guerrero in the seventh to give the Orioles the cushion they needed.

ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox will hand the ball to Nick Pivetta in the rubber match of their three-game set with the Orioles on Wednesday. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.