After handing the lead over with a sloppy eighth inning, the Red Sox erupted for six runs over the final two innings to sweep the Orioles with a mistake-filled 8-6 victory.
Trailing 3-2 in the ninth, the Sox got a game-tying leadoff homer from Marco Hernandez. Then, in the 10th, Rafael Devers smacked a one-out, tie-breaking homer and both Mookie Betts and Christian Vazquez each supplied two-run singles to provide some cushion.
The Orioles, showing some mettle, came back with three runs in the bottom of the 10th.
The win was the fifth in a row for the Red Sox, who also went a season-high five games over .500 with the victory.
The Sox led 2-1 in the eighth when a walk, two stolen bases, a mental error by Christian Vazquez and a wild pitch allowed the Orioles to tie the game. A pinch-hit triple by Steve Wilkerson and a run-scoring single by Hanser Alberto put the O's ahead.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Orioles
WHEN: 1:05
WHERE: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox 2-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 6-3
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Brian Johnson (0-0, ---) vs. LHP John Means (6-4, 2.60)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
5:11 Devers with one of the longest homers of the season -- 458 feet -- as the third baseman wins a battle against hard-throwing Mychal Givens.
5:10 Red Sox are 4-2 in extra innings this year -- including 3-0 on the road.
4:49 Marco Hernandez goes the other way with an opposite-field, game-tying homer to left-center.
4:42 Red Sox pay for some big mistakes and have given up the lead to for the first time since the fourth inning. Run-scoring single from Hanser Alberto puts the O's up.
4:31 Mental error on the part of Vazquez, who lobs the ball back to the mound, allowing Jonathan Villar to advance from second to third. That could prove costly with just one out.
4:23 A familiar problem for the Red Sox lineup - failure to hit in the clutch. Red Sox are 2-for-8 with RISP with nine runners stranded.
3:48 That's the kind of sloppy error that Devers was making earlier in the season, but has cleaned up of late.
3:19 Took two pitchers and 33 pitches, but the Red Sox get through the bottom of the fifth, stranding three Orioles.
2:43 Colten Brewer, in relief of Johnson, gets a groundout and a strikeout to strand two baserunners. Key sequence for the Sox, who hold onto the one-run lead.
2:40 Crazy play which costs the Orioles an out at first, a run at the plate and their manager. Keon Broxton was out of the baseline running to first, so he's ruled out. And Anthony Santander, who crossed the plate on the safety squeeze, is returned to third. Finally, manager Brandon Hyde gets himself ejected for arguing.
2:21 Yet another extra-base hit from Jackie Bradley Jr, who, it seems, is incapable of getting merely a single. Another double there scores Michael Chavis from second. That's six extra-base hits in the last seven games for Bradley.
2:20 Strange call by third base coach Andy Barkett, who waves Bogaerts home on a ball that barely left the infield, resulting in a rundown between third and home and a putout. Especially strange since there was only one out.
2:17 Xander Bogaerts stays on top of a high fastball and drives it to the left-center gap, scoring Rafael Devers.
2:08 Johnson has to work to get through the third, with a leadoff double, an infield single, a walk and a wild pitch - 26 pitches in all, as the Orioles grab a 1-0 lead.
1:37 Heads up play by Marco Hernandez to hustle over to first and take the throw from Michael Chavis as Johnson got caught in between.
1:23 Brian Johnson battles back after he puts the first two on - gets a double play ball on a hanging slider, then fans Renato Nunez for the third out. Still, living dangerously in that ballpark.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Vazquez C
Martinez LF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Chavis 1B
Bradley CF
Nunez DH
Hernandez 2B
ORIOLES
Alberto 3B
Mancini RF
Severino C
Nunez DH
Santander LF
Villar 2B
Davis 1B
Broxton CF
Martin SS
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have won four in a row, tying a season high...They're also four games over .500, tying another a season high....In the last 14 games, the quartet of Chris Sale, David Price, Eduardo Rodriguez and Rick Porcello are a combined 6-2, 3.24...The Sox have 12 homers in the last three games...Since April 30, they have 75 homers, tying them for second in baseball....The Sox lead all of baseball with 106 extra-base hits in their last 26 games...They have at least one extra-base hit in their last 86 games, MLB's longest active streak and the longest for the franchise since 2004-2005, when they had a streak of 164 games...During the current four-game winning streak, the team's 6-7-8-9 hitters have a slash line of .344/.400/.625 with five homers....In 14 games since coming off the IL, INF Brock Holt is hitting .396 with a .984 OPS with 10 RBI and 12 runs scored...Jackie Bradley Jr. has a six-game hitting streak, during which he's 9-for-23...He's also reached base in 11 straight games....J.D. Martinez has homered in three straight games, for a total of four home runs, tying for the longest such streak in his career....Six of Martinez's last seven hits have gone for extra-bases....Michael Chavis has a five-game hitting streak, Michael Chavis is 7-for-21 (.333) with two homers and four RBI....Xander Bogaerts leads the A.L. in runs scored....Over the first two games of the series, Rafael Devers is 5-for-9...He leads in the league in hits with 62 over the last 45 games...He also leads the AL in RBI with 36 since the beginning of May...Brandon Workman has allowed one hit to the last 29 batters faced and owns the league's lowest opponents batting average of .087 (9-for-103)….Since September of 2017, the Red Sox are 25-6 against the Orioles....The Sox have won their last six road games and are 18-7 away from home since April 19, the majors best road record in that span...The Sox are 10-1 in their last 11 getaway games and 15-7 in series finales, including 13-3 in their last 16....Marco Hernandez, after a strong start since his recalls, is hitless in his last nine at-bats...Christian Vazquez has a four-game hitting streak....Eduardo Nunez has hit safely in seven of the last 11 games he started...Brian Johnson is making his first start this season and first since last Sept. 28 of last season....He's appeared in four games out of the bullpen, going 1-0 with a 12.71 ERA....Only three Orioles have ever batted against Johnson...Chris Davis is 0-for-2 with a strikeout....Martinez is 2-for-5 lifetime against Means with a homer, as is Vazquez.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Andrew Benintendi was in the original lineup, but was scratched because of a tight quad. That put J.D. Martinez in left field, with Eduardo Nunez as the DH