All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Orioles, complete with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
Combo of Hill, Houck works out: Starter Rich Hill was perfect through the first four innings, retiring the first 12 Orioles he faced, including four by strikeout. When he allowed a leadoff flair to short for a single to start the fifth, he got the hook at just 50 pitches. But Hill knew the gameplan was to get Tanner Houck back on schedule as the piggyback option, and Houck took over from there, providing three scoreless innings to carry the Red Sox to the eighth inning. It may be frustrating for Hill to be limited to four-plus innings and to get lifted after just one soft single, but this is how the Sox have set things up and he seems OK with the plan. Houck had some control issues, walking three, including two in the seventh, but didn't allow a run.
Arroyo makes amends: Thursday afternoon in Toronto, the Red Sox lost a 1-0 game and the only run allowed was an unearned one, the result of an error by Christian Arroyo, filling in at second. That's not a good feeling, especially when a team is slumping and desperate for a win. But Arroyo was able to put that disappointment behind him Friday when he cranked a two-run homer into the home bullpen in the second inning against Orioles rookie starter Kyle Bradish. It would prove to be the only runs the Sox would need, though they later tacked on another that inning, with some help from an error by outfielder Trey Mancini. It was Arroyo's first homer of the season, and couldn't have come at a bigger time -- for the team, and, after what transpired the day before, for himself.
Bullpen issues in the ninth: After a perfect inning from Jake Diekman in the eighth, the Red Sox only needed three more outs from closer du jour, Hansel Robles. What they got, instead, was a mess of an inning that saw Robles have to be rescued by Matt Strahm. Robles allowed a leadoff homer to Ryan Mountcastle, then yielded a single before promptly getting called for a balk, his second of the season. He got two more outs, but the Sox didn't like the matchup at the bottom of the lineup and opted to bring in Strahm, who has been, for the most part, the team's most effective late-inning reliever. But even Strahm struggled a bit, issuing a walk to the first hitter he faced, bringing the potential winning run to the plate before he fanned pinch-hitter Chris Owings to wrap things up.
TURNING POINT
In the fifth inning, with the Sox leading 3-0, the Orioles put the first two hitters on base with base hits. But after the Sox had difficulty turning the double play a few times in Toronto, they got a big one here -- a 4-6-3 special -- that took the Orioles out of the potential for a big inning. Tanner Houck then worked around a walk and struck out Jorge Mateo to strand two and end the threat.
TWO UP:
Rafael Devers: The Red Sox had six hits all night, and Devers has two of them -- a double in the third inning and a leadoff single in the ninth.
Matt Strahm: After issuing a walk to the first hitter he faced in the ninth, Strahm bore down and overpowered pinch-hitter Chris Owings for the final out, earning the save.
TWO DOWN
Trevor Story: Remaining in the leadoff spot in the order, Story was without a hit in four at-bats and failed to set the tone for the offense at the top of the lineup, He did, however, contribute some nice plays at second, including an underhand feed in the second inning.
Hansel Robles: What should have been an uneventful ninth with a 3-0 lead turned into an anxiety-filled one instead. Robles allowed a leadoff homer, a single and a balk while facing the first three hitters and needed to be bailed out of the inning.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I know yesterday, he didn't feel too great about what happened. He made the error and we lost 1-0. But this is the beauty of baseball, right? You get a chance to redeem yourself and I'm happy that Christian put a good swing on that and we won the game.'' Alex Cora on Christian Arroyo.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Jackie Bradley Jr. snapped an 0-for-19 skid at the plate when he lined a single off the first-base bag in the second inning.
* The home run by Christian Arroyo snapped a six-game homerless streak for the Red Sox, their longest as a franchise in 21 years.
* The win was the first for the Red Sox in the first game of a series with a division opponent this season.
* The earned run off Hansel Robles was the first he's allowed in nine appearances this season and first since last August.
* The game marked the first time this season that Xander Bogaerts has gone two games in a row without collecting at least a hit.
UP NEXT: In the middle game of the series, the Red Sox will send RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 3.32) to the mound, and will be opposed by RHP Spenser Watkins (0-2, 2.77) at 7:05 p.m.
