What began looking like a brutal night for the Red Sox turned around in the middle innings, as they overcome an 8-3 deficit to post a season-high in runs with an explosive 19-12 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Four different hitters knocked in at least three runs each as the Sox rapped out 16 hits, including three homers. Xander Bogaerts knocked in four -- three with a homer -- and Brock Holt, Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi each knocked in three as the Red Sox won for the 11th time in the last 13 games.
Starter Nathan Eovaldi, who hadn't allowed a run in either of his first two starts for the Sox, was shelled for eight runs in just 2.2 innings.
But the Sox began chipping away with two runs in the fourth, six in the sixth, three in the seventh and five more in the eighth.
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:04 Mookie Betts has been on base nine times in his last two games. EDIT: Mookie Betts has been on base 10 times in his last two games.
9:42 Quite an inning by the Red Sox -- with a lot of help from the godawful Orioles bullpen. A couple of relievers couldn't throw strikes, and the Sox were disciplined enough to take advantage, laying off some borderline pitches enough to collect two bases-loaded walks to go along with three RBI from Brock Holt, spread over two plate appearances in the same inning.
9;14 Drew Pomeranz continues to have difficulty throwing strikes. With a two-out walk in his first relief outing of the year, he's now issued six walks in his last 5.2 innings.
8:25 Well, that was u-g-l-y. Eovaldi had next-to-nothing on this night. His trademark cutter wasn't effective at all, and Eovaldi couldn't get through the third inning. That's two starts in a row in which a Red Sox starter was gone in the early innings -- Rick Porcello lasted four-plus Thursday in Toronto. That comes at a particularly bad time, with a doubleheader set for Saturday and the bullpen getting plenty of work before that,
8;14 Rare misplay by Jackie Bradley Jr., who ran a long way to track a ball hit by Caleb Joseph, only to have the ball hit the tip of his glove and roll to the warning track for a two-base error. Tough to give an error there considering the distance that Bradley ran; then again, he was there to make the play and couldn't finish it.
7:56 Have to wonder how much Eovaldi is missing Sandy Leon behind the plate. The two worked extremely well in the starter's first two outings and Eovaldi praised him for getting a quick feel for his stuff.(I wrote about their partnership here). Tonight, with Leon getting the night off and Dan Butler catching Eovaldi, it's a different result.
7:52 Eovaldi is clearly not as sharp tonight as he was in first two outings for the Red Sox. He's not commanding pitches within the strike zone, and he walked the first hitter he faced, something that's highly unusual for him. Seven of the nine Orioles reached against him on the first time through the order.
7:45 Nathan Eovaldi's scoreless streak comes to an end on cutter to Chris Davis, who hits it out to straightaway center for his 14th homer of the season.
7:21 Xander Bogaerts shows his strength with a flat-footed swing on a changeup that still reached the first few rows of the left field seats to give the Red Sox a quick 3-0 lead.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles
WHEN: 7:05 p.m.
WHERE: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox had their six-game winning streak snapped Thursday night in Toronto with an 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays. It was only their second loss in the last 12 games. ... They begin a four-game series tonight against the Orioles, whom they have beaten 10 times in 12 games so far. ... The Orioles, who are last in the division, have had a sell-off since the Red Sox were last year, having traded Jonathan Schoop, Manny Machado, Brad Brach, Kevin Gausman and Zach Britton before last month's deadline. ... Eovaldi has MLB’s third-longest active scoreless streak (18.0 IP), trailing only teammates Chris Sale (23.0) and Eduardo Rodriguez (19.0).
STARTING PITCHING: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-4, 3.38 ERA) vs. RHP Dylan Bundy (7-10, 4.38)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
LIVE BOX: MLB GameDay
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Moreland 1B
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Holt 2B
Butler C
Bradley CF
ORIOLES
Villar 2B
Beckham SS
Jones RF
Trumbo DH
Mancini LF
Davis 1B
Nunez 3B
Joseph C
Mullins CF
NEWS AND NOTES:
- The Sox are still unsure of who will start the second game of their day-night doubleheader Saturday. The options include Hector Velazquez, Drew Pomeranz or William Cuevas. Cuevas has joined the club in Baltimore and will likely be activated for the start Saturday.
- Blake Swihart is due to play a rehab game over the weekend and be activated when the Sox get to Philadelphia.
- LHP Eduardo Rodriguez threw live batting practice to Swihart Friday afternoon. He'll have another BP session sometime next week, and assuming no setbacks, will then go on a brief rehab assignment.