The final road trip of the season got off to a disastrous start for the Red Sox, beaten by the lowly Baltimore Orioles, 4-2.
The Sox led 2-0 on solo homers from Kyle Schwarber and Hunter Renfroe, but Chris Sale left a changeup over the plate for Ryan Mountcastle, who belted a two-run homer to tie the game.
Later that same inning, with Sale out of the game, Pedro Severino laced a single under the glove of Rafael Devers, scoring another. The O's added another run off Tanner Houck in the eighth.
The Sox had just three hits on the night as they suffered their fourth straight defeat.
WHO: Red Sox (88-68) vs. Baltimore Orioles (50-106)
WHEN: 7:05 p.m.
WHERE: Camden Yards
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 12-4
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (5-0, 2.57) vs. LHP Bruce Zimmerman (50-106)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Renfroe RF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Schwarber LF
Dalbec 1B
Iglesias SS
Vazquez C
ORIOLES
Mullins CF
Mountcastle 1B
Hays RF
Mancini DH
Severino C
McKenna LF
Valaika SS
Jones 2B
Gutierrez 3B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: Three straight hits after two were out, capped by a bloop single to right from Ryan McKenna, scoring a huge insurance run.
T8: Through seven innings, the Red Sox have three hits.
B6 Fourth straight hit for the Orioles, with a hard smash by Trey Mancini getting underneath Devers' glove, scoring a run and the Orioles have their first lead of the night.
B6: Ryan Mountcastle hammers a changeup down in the zone deep into the left field seats for a two-run shot, and the O's have tied with one swing. Sale is absolutely livid with himself.
T6: Hunter Renfroe gets full extension on a swing and hits it out the other way, to right field, for his 29th homer. Second solo homer of the night for the Sox, and it doubles their lead.
B4: Sale has allowed just one over four innings, while striking out five. He's at 58 pitches and seems good for two or three innings more.
B3: Bobby Dalbec snares a line drive off the bat of Cedric Mullins, and crosses over to step on the first base bag to double up Kelvin Gutierrez.
B3: Sale finds an extra gear on his fastball, hitting 97 mph on three successive pitches.
T2: Kyle Schwarber connects on a fastball and hits it out to center, giving the Sox a quick 1-0 lead. The Sox have now homered in 30 of their last 32 games. That's 31 for Schwarber, though, obviously, most of those were with the Nationals.
B1: Chris Sale dominant and efficient in the bottom of the first, disposing of the Orioles on just 11 pitches, 1-2-3, with two strikeouts.
WHAT'S UP: At 88-68 (.564), the Red Sox own the AL’s 2nd Wild Card spot, 1.0 game ahead of TOR... They rank 5th in the AL and 8th in MLB in win percentage. The Sox have lost their last 3 games, after winning each of their previous 7....They are 13-9 in September....The earliest the Red Sox could clinch a Postseason berth is Thursday. The Sox are looking to reach the Postseason for the first time since their 2018 World Series title season. In 20 seasons under the current ownership group (2002-present), the Sox have reached the Postseason 10 times (2003-05, ‘07-09, ‘13, ‘16-18)...Only 4 other franchises have reached the Posteason 10+ times in the last 20 years (ATL, LAD, NYY, STL)....The Red Sox have played 163 games in a season 3 times (1961, ‘78, ‘85), but only in 1978 was that extra game used to break a tie (vs. NYY to determine AL East champion)...The Sox also needed a tiebreaker in 1948 to determine the AL pennant winner (Game 155 vs. CLE). The last tiebreaker game in the AL took place in 2013, to determine the 2nd Wild Card team (TB at TEX). The Red Sox won their 2021 season series against TOR (10-9), NYY (10-9), and SEA (4-3) and tied OAK (3-3)....The Red Sox played their final scheduled home games this past weekend, selling out all 3 games against the Yankees (36,000+ for each game). The Sox started the season 10-11 at home but went 39-21 (.650) in their next 60. At home, the Red Sox lead the majors in runs per game (5.8), AVG (.281), OBP (.350), SLG (.481), and OPS (.831)...Their .605 win % at home ranks 6th in MLB. ....The Red Sox have used 56 players this season, tied for their most in franchise history (also 2012). The Sox have used 33 pitchers, their most in franchise history...That does not include 4 position players who have pitched (Araúz, Arroyo, Gonzalez, Plawecki). 10 players have made their MLB debut with the Red Sox this season (Bazardo, Crawford, Duran, Espinal, López, Ort, Sawamura, Seabold, Whitlock, Wong)....The Red Sox entered today with the AL’s largest increase in win % from 2020 (.400) to 2021 (.564). Boston’s .426 win % in 2012 (69-93) is the club’s lowest ever prior to a postseason campaign...The Red Sox lost their first 3 games to the Orioles but have won 12 of the last 13, including each of the last 6...The visiting team won each of the first 9 meetings, but the home team has won the last 7. The Sox are 27-7 in their last 34 games in Baltimore. Since the start of 2018, J.D. Martinez has hit 13 HR at Camden Yards, more than any other visiting player. Rafael Devers has 8 HR in his last 15 games in Baltimore, including 5 in only 7 games this season....In his last 13 starts vs. the Orioles, Chris Sale is 10-0 with a 1.92 ERA (17 ER/79.2 IP)...In the Expansion Era (1961-present), he is 1 of 4 pitchers to win 10 straight decisions vs. BAL (also Jamie Moyer, Roy Halladay, and Jon Lester). Sale’s teams have won each of his last 8 starts at Camden Yards (7-0, 1.38 ERA, 8 ER/52.0 IP). ....The Red Sox have 46 come-from-behind wins, tied with the Rays for most in the majors. ....The Red Sox lead MLB in doubles (326) and XBH (556)...They rank among the top 5 in runs per game (4th, 5.15), AVG (3rd, .262), SLG (2nd, .450), and OPS (3rd, .779). The Sox rank 10th in MLB with 208 HR...They have homered in 28 of their last 31 games; in that time (beginning 8/23), they rank 4th in MLB with 51 HR...The Red Sox have six players with 20 or more homers: Rafael Devers (35); Kyle Schwarber (31); Hunter Renfroe (28); J.D. Martinez (27); Bobby Dalbec (24); Xander Bogaerts (23) .... The Red Sox lead the majors with 36 three-run homers, their most in franchise history (source: Elias)...The Giants rank 2nd with 32. The Sox have hit 39 HR with at least 2 runners on base (3 grand slams), tied for their 2nd-most in franchise history (41 in 2005, 39 in 2016)....In their last 43 games (beginning 8/8), the Sox lead the majors in AVG and OPS with runners in scoring position (.309/.919)...In their 113 games prior, they ranked 17th in AVG and 18th in OPS with RISP (.252/.744). The Sox lead the majors in 2-strike XBH (201), as well as 2-strike RBI (320), 35 more than any other team. The Sox lead MLB in HR in counts of 0-2 (18) & 1-2 (27). The Sox lead MLB in runs scored with 2 outs (323)... With RISP & 2 outs, they lead the AL in AVG (.263) and OPS (.830)....The Red Sox have been charged with 0 errors in their last 8 games (beginning 9/17), tied for their longest streak of the season (also 7/22-29)...It is the 2nd-longest active streak in the majors, behind only the Orioles (11 G). Red Sox outfielders lead MLB with 42 assists, their most in a season since 1987 (47).... The Red Sox are 11-5 (.688) in extra-inning games, MLB’s 3rd-best record...They are 8-1 in extra-inning games on the road, the best record in the majors among teams who have played at least 5 extra-inning road games. The Sox have tied their franchise record for most wins in extra-inning road games (8-3 in 1956, 8-2 in 2017).
NOTES:
* Alex Cora on tonight's starter Chris Sale: "I think he's getting close for his stuff to play the way we envisioned or the way he used to be,' said Cora. "There have been good fastball games, good slider games, good changeups, but I don't think he's put it all together. But, in the end, he's given us five, six innings and a chance to win and hopefully tonight is the night that he puts everything together, gives us a long, solid start and obviously give us a chance to win.''
* Cora believes there's no need to worry about complacency as the Red Sox meet the Orioles, who own the worst record in the American League. "If we go over the schedule, we're in this situation because we lost the first three games of the season against Baltimore, right? So we don't need reminders that in any given series at this level, you can get beat by the best team in the big leagues or the team with the worst record in the big leagues. You still have to execute. Obviously, the atmosphere won't be what it was (last) weekend. But we still have to go out there and perform. I think, for this group, the first weekend of the season is a reminder of that - you have to show up and you have to play good baseball or there's a chance you can get beat.''
* RHP Garrett Whitlock (pectoral strain) threw in the outfield on flat ground and reported improvement. "Sixty throws, if not mistaken,'' said Cora. "He felt good. Now, we'll see how he reacts tonight and tomorrow and then we'll take if we take the next step. But it was a big step for him, obviously, to go out there and play catch.'' Whitlock is eligible to come off the IL, but he's unlikely to be ready for that quick a return. "As of now, that's probably too soon, to be honest with you,'' said Cora. "But you never know how guys will react. But not throwing a bullpen, being realistic, for me, I don't think Thursday will be the day.''
* Cora believes Matt Barnes is working his way back into some late-inning appearances. "It was a good step (Friday),'' Cora said. "The swings and misses were very important. We'll see how it goes. We need everybody this. That's the reality of this. At one point, I guarantee you that he'll be part of something important here.''
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