The Red Sox got six scoreless innings from Nathan Eovaldi and three RBI from J.D. Martinez to put the brakes on a four-game losing streak as the Red Sox shut out the Baltimore Orioles, 6-0.
Eovaldi allowed just four hits while fanning seven to earn his 11th win of the season and bounce back from a poor outing last Friday against the Yankees.
Martinez homered in the second and drove a two-run double in the sixth. Alex Verdugo added a big two-run single in the eighth.
WHO: Red Sox (88-69) vs. Baltimore Orioles (51-107)
WHEN: 7:05 p.m.
WHERE: Camden Yards
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 12-5
SERIES TO DATE: BAL 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (10-9, 3.88) vs. LHP Zac Lowther (1-2, 7.66)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Renfroe RF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Dalbec 1B
Plawecki C
Verdugo LF
Iglesias 2B
ORIOLES
Mullins CF
Mountcastle 1B
Hays RF
Mancini DH
Severino C
McKenna LF
Valaika 2B
Gutierrez 3B
Martin SS
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T9: Renfroe belts No. 30, a solo shot to left, adding on.
T8: Alex Verdugo rips an opposite-field single to left, scoring two huge insurance runs and the Sox lead 5-0.
B6: Eovaldi gets into a little trouble with a leadoff double by Cedric Mullins and a walk to Ryan Mountcastle, but gets himself out of it with a two flyouts sandwiched around a strikeout.
T6: Kelvin Gutierrez, who has played third base superbly in the series, can't glove a routine grounder to his backhand, and the Sox have runners in scoring position with no out. J.D. Martinez gets on top of a hanging breaking ball with a double into the LF corner, scoring two,
B5: Three groundouts for Eovaldi, who has blanked the Orioles over five innings, needing just 68 pitches.
T5: For the second time in the last three innings, the Red Sox get things going with consecutive singles. But again, they get nothing out of it, as Kike Hernandez grounds into a double play and Hunter Renfroe flies to center.
T3: Back-to-back singles from Jose Iglesias and Kike Hernandez to open the third. The Sox already have as many hits in two-plus innings as they did all of last night.
T2: J.D. Martinez demolishes a changeup over the heart of the plate, driving it out to straightaway center, some 440 feet away, for homer No, 29, and for the second straight night, the Red Sox get a solo homer in the second to take an early lead.
T1: Nathan Eovaldi looks sharp to start, fanning the first two hitters he faced, then pitching around a two-out double to Austin Hays.
NOTES: At 88-69 (.561), the Red Sox own the AL’s 2nd Wild Card spot, a game ahead of both the Blue Jays and Mariners in the loss column. The Sox have lost their last 4 games, after winning each of their previous 7....They are 13-10 in September....The earliest the Red Sox could clinch a Postseason berth is Friday. The Sox are looking to reach the Postseason for the first time since their 2018 World Series title season....The Red Sox won their 2021 season series against TOR (10-9), NYY (10-9), and SEA (4-3). .. 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 (.561). 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 14...Prior to last night, BOS had won each of the previous 6 meetings. The visiting team won each of the first 9 meetings, but the home team has won the last 8. The Sox are 27-8 in their last 35 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 16 games in Baltimore, including 5 in only 8 games this season.... The Red Sox have scored 3 runs or fewer in 4 consecutive games, matching their longest streak of the season (also 5/29-6/2)...Prior to this stretch, they had scored 6+ runs in each of their previous 7 games. The Sox lead MLB in doubles (326) and XBH (558)...They rank among the top 5 in runs per game (4th, 5.13), AVG (3rd, .261), SLG (2nd, .449), and OPS (3rd, .777). The Sox rank 10th in MLB with 210 HR...They have homered in 29 of their last 32 games; in that time (beginning 8/23), they rank 4th in MLB with 53 HR. ....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), 34 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). ....Red Sox outfielders lead MLB with 42 assists, their most in a season since 1987 (47)...Hunter Renfroe is tied for the ML lead with 16, Alex Verdugo has 9, and Kiké Hernández has 8...Hernández ranks T-3rd among CF in defensive runs saved (13). ....The Red Sox have 46 come-from-behind wins, tied with the Rays for most in the majors. .....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)....Nathan Eovaldi is coming off his 200th career start, but an outing in which he tied a seasin high in runs allowed (seven)....The Red Sox have won 6 of his last 7 starts and 7 of his last 9...Eovaldi has issued 2 BB or fewer in each of his last 18 starts, the longest single-season streak of his career...He leads leads qualified AL pitchers in BB/9.0 IP (1.74), HR/9.0 IP (0.77), & FanGraphs’ WAR (tied, 5.3)...Ranks 2nd in FIP (2.83) & SO/BB (5.53)...Ranks T-7th in SO (188). Leads the Red Sox in fWAR (5.3), starts (31), innings (176.1), and strikeouts (188). Since the start of 2020, has 240 SO & 41 BB...In that time, his walk rate of 4.4% (41 BB/940 BF) is tied for 1st in the AL & 2nd in MLB behind Clayton Kershaw’s 4.2% (min. 150.0 IP)...Eovaldi has a career-high 188 SO...His 10 wins, 31 starts, and 176.1 IP are all the 2nd-most of his career (33 GS & 199.2 IP in 2014 with MIA; 14 wins in 2015 with NYY). Has thrown at least 5.0 innings in 27 of his 31 starts, including 14 of his last 16. Has allowed 1 or 0 runs over 7.0+ IP 6 times this season, tied for most in the AL.
NOTES:
* Nathan Eovaldi's numbers are better with Kevin Plawecki behind the plate than with Christian Vazquez, but Alex Cora said Plawecki isn't in the lineup for that reason. "I know the numbers,'' said Cora, "but it's actually not about that -- it's about Kevin's bat against lefties (.313/378/.433). For some reason, this year, Christian has struggled against lefties (.216/.248/.304). It's very different than in past years. Kevin has been solid against lefties. He's been solid with everybody behind the plate. He calls a good game, he blocks the ball. Obviously, they've been running on him, but they've been running on us regardless, so that doesn't make a difference. It just happened that, most of the time, when there was a day game, Nate was pitching (and it was Plawecki's turn to give Vazquez a rest after the previous night game). I think in the end, the guy on the mound (Eovaldi) is really good and he'd be really good with Jason (Varitek) if he could get his gear back on. But Kevin has done an amazing job. I think offensively, for as good as he was last year, I think this year is even better. He's hitting the ball hard. He's got some big hits.''
* The Sox had Ramon Vazquez coaching first base Tuesday night and he'll remain there the rest of the season, with first base coach Tom Goodwin working with the outfielders from the dugout. "As you guys know, we've got to prepare for the postseason, if we get there and MLB, they mandated that the staff has to be vaccinated and Goody's not. So we've got Goody on the bench and Ramon will be coaching first the rest of the season.''
* The Sox are undecided who will start Saturday. They've recently gone with a four-man rotation thanks to the days off and might treat it as a bullpen game with Tanner Houck available to provide some bulk innings.
* Garrett Whitlock threw again this afternoon and "feels great,'' according to Cora. "The goal is for him to throw a bullpen on Friday,'' said Cora, "and go from there,'' Meanwhile, Josh Taylor remains in Boston, getting treatment, with no baseball activity yet.