BALTIMORE - All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 2-0 win over the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight.
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Wright continues his roll: How well is Steven Wright pitching now? He came into Monday's start with a 1.57 ERA ... and saw the ERA go down with 6.2 scoreless innings. Wright allowed just four hits and worked his way around three walks and a hit batsman. Oddly, Wright has been getting a lot of groundouts, which runs counterintuitive for knuckleballers who often get a lot of their outs in the air. "I pull it down, so I want it going down,'' explained Wright. "For me, on the ground is a lot better than in the air. Historically, with the knuckleball, it's been more of a flyball pitch and I'd rather it be a groundball pitch because I feel like there's a lot more opportunity to get outs when it's on the ground versus in the air. But I don't really think about that. I just try to do everything I can to keep it in the zone, throw it with as much aggression as I can without overthrowing it and hopefully they hit the top part of the ball and hit it into the ground.'' Wright got eight outs on the ground Monday night.
Bullpen buys time: The Red Sox trotted out five relievers in relief of Wright, who combined for 4.2 scoreless innings, during which they allowed one hit while compiling nine strikeouts. In fact, the final seven outs of the night recorded by Red Sox pitching came via strikeouts. Obviously, the more the ball is kept out of play, the better it is -- especially on the road in a scoreless game, where one mistake can hand the home team the win. The biggest strikeout came back in the seventh when Wright loaded the bases on a walk, a hit batsman and a bunt single and left a mess for Joe Kelly. But Kelly went with fastballs up in the zone and overpowered Adam Jones, getting him to swing-and-miss on a 98 mph fastball, leaving three runners stranded.
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Offense sputters again: The Sox won this one in spite of their offense, not because of it. They mustered just three hits in the first 10 innings and went from the fifth through the 10th with just one hit -- and that was an infield single to shortstop by Xander Bogaerts. "Teams go through stretches like this,'' said Cora of his offense, which has now one hit in the last 30 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Even in the 12th, when the Red Sox pushed two runs across, they scored not with hits but two straight sacrifice flies. "It's just baseball,'' shrugged Brock Holt, who delivered the first of the two sac flies. "You're going to go through stretches where you're playing really good and you can't do anything wrong and then you're going to have stretches like we've had the last few days. We're getting guys on; we're just not getting that hit with a guy in scoring position.'' They're also not getting hits with the bases loaded. The Sox are without a hit with the bases full in their last 22 such opportunities.
SECOND GUESS
Cora gambled some by holding Craig Kimbrel back until the 12th, by which time the Red Sox finally had themselves a lead thanks to the two runs in the top of the inning. But that can be a risky proposition for a team on the road, since you invite the possibility of the game ending without using your best reliever. That was especially true for Kimbrel Monday night since, thanks to the lack of save opportunities of late, he had made just two appearances in the month of June and surely was well-rested enough to handle more than an inning.
TWO UP
Andrew Benintendi: Moved out of the leadoff spot by the return of Mookie Betts, Benintendi kept doing the job with two singles and two walks, reaching base four times in five plate appearances.
Heath Hembree: The righty reliever earned the win and was dominant in his one inning of work, striking out the side on 15 pitches.
ONE DOWN
Mitch Moreland: The first baseman, who was red-hot for much of the season, has cooled considerably of late. Moreland was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, the last of which came with the bases loaded and two out in the 11tth.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Sometimes, we're going to go through stuff like throughout the season. But the pitching staff did outstanding, we played great defense and we ended up winning.''
— Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Rafael Devers extended his hitting streak to a season-high six games with a double in the 12th inning.
- Bogaerts has reached base in 25 of his last 26 games.
- Bogaerts had his 14th multi-hit game of the year.
- Benintendi was 2-for-3 with two walks and is now hitting .483 and 11 RBI in nine games against the Orioles this season.
- Wright has contributed six scoreless outings in a row.
- The Sox improved to 22-11 on the road and 26-10 against division opponents.