Rafael Devers drove in three runs and Hunter Renfroe added a big solo homer in the eighth inning as the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles for their fourth straight win and improved to 6-0 at Camden Yards this season.
Devers had a solo homer in the second and a two-run double in the sixth.
Nick Pivetta improved to 5-0 with six innings, during which he allowed two runs. Matt Barnes notched his eighth save in as many tries.
WHO: Red Sox (21-13) vs. Baltimore Orioles (15-18)
WHEN: 1:05 p.m.
WHERE: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox 5-3
SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox 2-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nick Pivetta (4-0, 3.23) vs. RHP Dean Kremer (0-2, 6.43)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7 FM
RED SOX
Gonzalez 2B
Verdugo CF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Renfroe RF
Dalbec 1B
Cordero LF
Plawecki C
ORIOLES
Mullins CF
Hays LF
Mancini DH
Stewart RF
Mountcastle 1B
Galvis SS
Severino C
Ruiz 3B
Valaika 2B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: Adam Ottavino continues to struggle with first hitters. He hits Austin Hays, marking the seventh time in 16 appearances that he's put the leadoff man on base.
T8: Hunter Renfroe got all of that one --more than 450 feet to straightaway CF, with an important insurance run.
T7: Sox leave 'em loaded. That's five baserunners stranded over the last two innings, including four in scoring position.
B6: On his 103rd -- and surely final -- pitch of the afternoon, Pivetta digs in and retires Galvis on a flyout to center, stranding a baserunner in scoring position.
T6: Sox get two, but with a chance to add on and two in scoring position and just one out, can't do so. Remains to be seen how costly that will be.
T6: Devers, fooled badly by two pitches up in the strike zone earlier in the at-bat, doesn't miss on a third try, slamming a double to right for a two-run double.
T6: Dean Kremer had limited the Sox to just three hits through the first five innings, but with back-to-back singles from Marwin Gonzalez and Alex Verdugo to open the sixth, he gets the hook. Adam Plutko on.
B5: Pivetta leaves a changeup up in the zone and Cedric Mullins crushes it into the right field seats.
T5: Sox strand Bobby Dalbec (double) on third in the fifth.
B4: Pivetta, settling in nicely, has set down the previous nine Orioles in a row before Freddy Glavis lined that single to right field.
T2: Four of the eight homers hit by Devers this season have come against the Orioles -- all of them at Camden Yards.
T2: With an almost effortless swing, Rafael Devers goes deep to center with his eighth homer, tying the game quickly.
B1: A reminder of how quickly an inning can turn: Nick Pivetta was ahead of Trey Mancini 0-and-2 with two outs and was a strike away from a 1-2-3 inning. Instead, he lost Mancini with a walk, followed that with another one and then gave up a run-scoring single to Ryan Mountcastle.
B1: Complete with eye-pink, Hunter Renfroe makes a fine leaping catch against the RF scoreboard to take away extra bases from Austin Hays.
PRE-GAME STATS: The Red Sox have the best record in the game at 21-13 and have won three straight and four of their last five...The Red Sox have scored 45 runs in their last five games, including 11 or more runs in three of those five, and at least five runs in each of them......The Red Sox lead the majors in runs (183), batting average (.269), slugging percentage (.445), OPS (.779), doubles (76), and extra-base hits (120)...They have 14 HR in their last eight games...They also have had multiple extra-base hits in 18 consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors in 2021.... The Sox are the only team with four qualified players with an OPS of at least .850: J.D. Martinez (1.084), Xander Bogaerts (1.003), Rafael Devers (.915), and Alex Verdugo (.856).....Xander Bogaerts has seven homers in his last 17 games, the most in the majors during that time...Bogaerts leads MLB in hits (45) and ranks third in batting average (.357)...In the month of May, he is 13-for-29 (.448) with three home runs...Bogaerts leads MLB shortstops in AVG (.357), OBP (.400), slugging (.603), OPS (1.003), doubles (tied, 10), and extra-base hits (17)...No other shortstop has an OPS of at least .900....The Red Sox are 15-for-19 in stolen base attempts for a 78.9% success rate.....Christian Vázquez (4-for-4) and Alex Verdugo (3-for-3) lead the club in steals....Hunter Renfroe has eight RBI in May, tops on the team. He 10-for-31 (.323) with two homers this month...Marwin Gonzalez has hit safely in each of his last six games, with doubles in each of his last three...Vázquez is 10-for-22 (.455) with seven RBI during his six-game hitting streak...Bobby Dalbec is 3-for-8 with five RBI in his last two games...The visiting team has won each of the last nine games between the Red Sox and Orioles, including all eight meetings this season...As a staff, the Red Sox have 300.1 innings pitched, with 58.7% coming from starters (176.1); In 2020, 46.9% of their innings came from starters (246.0 of 524.0)....Since joining the Red Sox last September, Nick Pivetta is 6-0 with a 2.88 ERA and .204 opponent AVG in eight starts (40.2 IP, 13 ER, 29 H)...Before Pivetta, the last pitcher to go unbeaten in his first eight or more starts with the Red Sox was Jon Lester in 2006 (5-0 in first 9).....Only 3 starters have begun their Sox careers with 7+ wins before their first loss: Dave "Boo" Ferriss (8-0, 1945), George Winter (7-0, 1901), and John Burkett (7-0, 2002)....Maikel Franco is 2-for-3 with a homer against Pivetta lifetime while Freddy Galvis is 3-for-4...Kevin Plawecki is 2-for-2 in his career against Dean Kremer.
NOTES:
- The Red Sox placed INF Christian Arroyo on the 10-day IL, retroactive to May 7, with a left hand contusion. To replace him on the roster, the Red Sox promoted INF Jonathan Arauz. Arroyo was hit on the left hand Wednesday, the second time in the span of 10 days that he was hit in that area. This is the second IL move the Sox have made in the last three days, after placing INF/OF Kike Hernandez (hamstring) on IL Friday.
- The Sox also have shut down RHP Tanner Houck with a sore right flexor muscle. "We're not overly concerned,'' said Cora. "This happened in his last start. The next day, he came in sore. He's actually feeling better. There's no timetable, but this is something we feel is going to be short-term.''
- The Sox have had the same four-man umpiring crew -- Ron Kulpa, Brian O'Nora, D.J. Reyburn and Ryan Blakney -- for the past four series with two more to come -- as MLB tries to limit exposure due to COVID. Twice, the umpires have traveled on the Red Sox charter. "It's been OK,'' said Alex Cora. "They're profesionals and we understand the situation and we deal with it.''