Orioles' Wilson shuts down Red Sox

[June 17, 2016]  BOSTON -- Tyler Wilson came into Thursday night's game against the Red Sox looking for answers to his recent struggles.

Apparently, he found them.

The right-hander survived some early hard-hit balls and pitched eight shutout innings and Adam Jones hit a two-run homer and added an RBI double as the Baltimore Orioles moved into sole possession of first place in the American League East with a 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

The win, the Orioles' sixth in 10 games with Boston this season, gave Baltimore the series 2-1 and snapped the tie atop the division.

Wilson, who allowed 10 runs on 14 hits in 9 2/3 innings over his last two starts, yielded three hits in his first win in his last six starts. He walked one and struck out six to raise his record to 3-5 with his fifth major league win.

Brad Brach worked the ninth and allowed a solo home run to David Ortiz -- the 520th of his career -- with two out as the Red Sox avoided what would have been their second shutout of the season, their first since April 10. Ortiz, who has 17 homers, also had a double.

Jones hit his fourth homer during a five-game hitting streak, a monster shot off former Oriole prospect Eduardo Rodriguez (1-2 with three straight shaky outings) in the third inning and doubled home a run in the fourth as Rodriguez lasted only 4 1/3 innings.

Manny Machado had three hits and Joey Rickard two for the Orioles.

The Jones homer was Baltimore's major league-best 34th in June.

After an impressive season debut in Baltimore, Rodriguez has allowed 14 runs, 18 hits and nine walks in 14 2/3 innings over his last three starts. His ERA after four starts is 6.97.

Rodriguez worked around a pair of one-out singles in the first and struck out two in a perfect second. But the dreaded walk, which has been hurting him, appeared again and a walk to Paul Janish set up Jones to hit a shot completely out of Fenway Park.

 Orioles starting pitcher Tyler Wilson (63) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Dustin Pedroia's inability to turn a double play led to the Orioles' third run, in the fourth. Jonathan Schoop smacked what should have been a DP grounder at Xander Bogaerts, but Pedroia dropped the flip at second -- Matt Wieters was out as Pedroia picked the ball up, but Schoop reached. He took third on Janish's two-out single and scored when Jones rifled a 3-0 pitch into left field for a double.

Machado led off the fifth inning with a long double and scored on Chris Davis' one-out single that knocked Rodriguez from the game. Schoop doubled Davis home from first with two out to make it 5-0.

NOTES: With LF Chris Young out with right quad tightness, Rusney Castillo got his first start since being recalled from the minors May 31. ... LHP Roenis Elias makes his first start for the Red Sox when he pitches against his former team as Boston opens a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners on Friday. Elias has a 15-20 big league record and was 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his last five starts and left Triple-A Pawtucket with 13 straight scoreless innings. ... The Orioles go with RHPs Mike Wright, Yovani Gallardo (coming off the disabled list) and Chris Tillman in their three-game home series with the Toronto Blue Jays starting Friday night. ... Red Sox manager John Farrell said he expects a roster move -- other than the recall of Elias and sending out a player -- during the Seattle series. ... Orioles SS J.J. Hardy could come off the disabled list as early as Friday.

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.