|
 Ortiz's two-run homer to center capped a five-run rally in the sixth
inning, which was all the offense the Red Sox needed in a 5-1 win
over Baltimore on Tuesday night.
"He's David Ortiz. Any given time, you're a swing of the bat away
from putting up one or four," said center fielder Mookie Betts, who
hit an RBI single in the sixth and helped set up the big rally for
Boston's "Big Papi."
The Orioles had a hand in Boston's big inning as well with a pair of
errors and a passed ball. The Red Sox capitalized on the mistakes
and went from trailing 1-0 to leading 3-1, then Ortiz belted a 2-0
pitch from Baltimore right-hander Bud Norris out for his 11th home
run of the season.
Betts extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games for the Red
Sox, who ended a six-game skid against the American League East
rival Orioles. The division has been beating up regularly on the
last-place Red Sox, who improved to 11-22 against AL East teams.
Clay Buchholz (5-6) struggled through the first two innings, then
settled down and went seven innings to win his second consecutive
start. The right-hander allowed one run on eight hits, walked one
and struck out seven.
Boston manager John Farrell said Buchholz kept the Orioles off-guard
by mixing up his pitches.
"There wasn't any one sequence he repeated," Farrell said. "He's
been very dependable for us and seven strong innings tonight."
The Red Sox improved to 4-8 against the Orioles, whose six-game
winning streak over Boston was Baltimore's longest in a single
season since 1961.
The three-game series wraps up with an afternoon game Thursday, and
Boston may have some holes to fill in the lineup. Left fielder
Hanley Ramirez left Wednesday's game with a bruised left hand after
he was struck by a line drive while running the bases in the sixth
inning. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia left with a tight hamstring
after running out a base hit in the sixth.
Brock Holt, who started at first for Boston, ended up playing three
different positions with the defensive changes.
Buchholz and Norris (2-7) both hadn't allowed a run through five
innings. The Orioles broke the scoreless tie in the sixth when right
fielder Chris Parmelee led off with a double and scored on a one-out
single by first baseman Chris Davis. It was the only run Buchholz
would allow.
"He got a lot of swings and misses, but he also got a lot of weak
contact," Davis said. "We've seen him enough we know what he's going
to do and he was good tonight."
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Davis' RBI gave Baltimore a 1-0 lead that was short-lived. Davis
received an error on a hard grounder by right fielder Alejandro de
Aza that broke the webbing of the first-baseman's glove. De Aza went
to second on a passed ball by catcher Caleb Joseph, then Norris
missed on a barehanded attempt to field a bunt by catcher Sandy
Leon.
"Chris' glove broke. Bud's a really good fielding pitcher and that
was a tough play. I'm not sure if it's an error or not," Baltimore
manager Buck Showalter said. "After that it kind of unraveled and we
gave in a little bit there to Ortiz."
Betts followed Leon with a single to right that tied the score.
Pedroia's single with one out scored Leon and Betts. Ortiz then
drove a 2-0 pitch to center, the designated hitter's 11th home run
of the season. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts added an infield single
with two outs, and that was the end of the night for Norris, who
left trailing 5-1 despite not allowing an earned run.
Norris yielded seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three
and walked one.
"I don't know if you can pitch a better five innings than Bud
pitched," Showalter said.
NOTES: Orioles recalled LHP T.J. McFarland from Triple-A Norfolk and
sent down RHP Oliver Drake. ... Boston's Brock Holt started at first
base for the third time this season, then moved to left when Hanley
Ramirez exited and later to second base when Dustin Pedroia came
out. Holt has started at every position except pitcher and catcher
in 44 starts this season. ... Red Sox 1B Mike Napoli was due to get
the night off after striking out in all four at-bats Tuesday, but he
entered after Ramirez's injury and fanned in both of his at-bats.
... Boston manager John Farrell said C Blake Swihart should be back
in the lineup Thursday after missing three games since sustaining a
foot injury Saturday at Kansas City. ... The three-game series wraps
up Thursday with Baltimore RHP Miguel Gonzalez (5-4, 3.33 ERA)
facing Boston RHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-1, 3.13).
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