All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 7-1 win over the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Eovaldi spins a beauty: The night didn't begin well for Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi, who filled the bases with two singles and a walk before getting out of the game. He needed 22 pitches to get through it. "I felt off mechanically (in the first),'' he said. "Then I was able to slow things down.'' Whatever he did, it worked. From the second inning through the sixth, he pitched to just two batters of the minimum. Eovaldi was coming off his worst outing of the year, having been knocked around by the Yankees on Saturday night, but made some adjustments. "I tried to attack more inside today,'' said Eovaldi. "Not just with the cutter, but throw some fastballs in there, try to mess up their timing. I felt like I was able to do that today and the contact wasn't as hard as it had been.'' He was also far more economical than usual, taking advantage of an aggressive Baltimore lineup which swung early in the count, allowing him to become the first Red Sox pitcher to toss seven innings this season.
Moreland strikes again: All season long, Mitch Moreland has come up with the big hits for the Red Sox, and Thursday was no different. With the Sox leading 4-1 in the ninth, he smacked a three-run homer to center to really open the game up. The homer was his fifth in the last 11 games and he leads the Sox in both homers (seven) and RBI (17). This was the first homer in his last five that didn't give the Red Sox a lead on the scoreboard, but it was still well-timed. "He's consistent,'' said Eovaldi. "He's been coming up and it always seems like it's in a big situation as well. He was able to break the game open.'' If nothing else, his strong start may be adding to his value as the Aug. 31 trade deadline, but it's scary to think where this team might be without his bat.
Sox lead from start to finish: Going into Thursday night, the Red Sox had scored first only 10 times in the first 25 games, and they've spent most of the season trying to dig out from some big early-game deficits. Not Thursday. The Sox led 2-0 in the second, 3-0 in the third and never trailed. That alone is a big mental boost for a team that has spent too much time trying to rally and catch up. On Wednesday, the Red Sox did themselves a favor by continually adding on throughout the game. And although the Sox didn't give themselves any breathing room Thursday until the ninth when they exploded for four runs, even that was helpful. It enabled Ron Roenicke to not use Josh Taylor -- as he had planned when the Sox went into the top of the ninth with just a two-run lead. Instead, Phillips Valdez finished up, meaning the Sox go into Friday night with Taylor, Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman available if necessary.
TURNING POINT
Xander Bogaerts saw a frustrated Eovaldi in the dugout after the first inning. Eovaldi had a rocky first, needing 22 pitches, but worked out some mechanical adjustments and went out for the second and promptly retired 12 of the next 14 hitters he faced, protecting the three-run lead he'd been given all the way into the seventh inning.
TWO UP
Ryan Brasier: Brasier had what may have been his best outing of the season, needing just 12 pitches to set down the Orioles in order, finishing with two strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts: Bogaerts hit a solo homer in the third, then started the four-run ninth with a single to left to score Alex Verdugo. In all, he had a three-hit night.
ONE DOWN
J.D. Martinez: Martinez came out of the game Tuesday and missed Wednesday too as he dealt with a bug, and he wasn't sharp in his return to the lineup, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Mitch is putting us on his back and it's fun to see.'' Xander Bogaerts.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Alex Verdugo extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games, though he saw his streak of extra-base hits in seven straight come to an end.
- Rafael Devers collected his third straight multi-hit game.
- Christian Vazquez had two singles and has now hit safely in four straight games.
- The Red Sox are 20-4 in their last 24 games at Camden Yards.