All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Crawford hammered: Rookie righthander Kutter Crawford had been the most consistent performer among the many young pitchers who've stepped into the team's injury-ravaged rotation this season, but that wasn't the case on this night. After a scoreless first inning, Crawford was tagged for three runs in each of the next three innings as the Red Sox fell behind early. Nearly every ball the Orioles hit was squared up, including three shots that resulted in homers -- every one of them with men on base. Crawford's peripheral numbers reveal that he's prone to giving up some hard-hit balls in his starts. More times than not, those have been at someone. But not on Friday night, as of the 11 hits off him, six were for extra-bases. Most frustrating of all was in the fourth inning when Crawford retired the first two hitters he faced, only to have the next three reach, and eventually, come around to score.
Bogaerts, Cora run: In the top of the fourth inning, with two out and one on, Xander Bogaerts took a pitch he believed to be low. Home plate umpire Todd Tichenor thought otherwise, and rang Bogaerts up on a called third strike for the third out of the inning. A frustrated Bogaerts first tossed his bat, then had a choice word or two for Tichenor, who ejected him. Cora, sprinting like a mad man from the dugout to protect his star shortstop, arrived too late to save Bogaerts, and after some exchanges with Tichenor, he, too, was ejected. Cora then got his money's worth by kicking dirt around the plate and pointing out to Tichenor where the pitch in question had been thrown.
Pham leaves with injury: Outfielder Tommy Pham had an eventful night all around. He smacked two doubles and knocked in three runs. He also misplayed a ball to left, resulting in a two-run double for the Orioles. And finally, he left the game with a sore back in the middle of an inning. Cora said he would be re-evaluated Saturday, with no known prognosis. Pham's departure from the game resulted in a very unusual defensive alignment for the team as Alex Verdugo moved from right to left, Kike Hernandez, who had begun in center only to move to short after Bogaerts' ejection, returned to center while Arroyo shifted from second to short and Bobby Dalbec entered the game at second base.
TURNING POINT
Trailing 10-4 after four innings, the Red Sox showed some fight and scored five times in the top of the fifth inning, sending 10 men to the plate with four hits and a walk. That was enough to bring them back to within a run and give them hope that this one wasn't over after all. But in the bottom of the inning, that momentum went out the window when Ryan Brasier was charged with five runs as the Orioles matched the scoring done by the Sox in the top of the inning and re-established control of the game -- this time, for good.
TWO UP
Rob Refsnyder: Getting the start at DH over the slumping J.D. Martinez, Refsnyder continued to impress, reaching base four times with three hits and a walk to go along with two runs scored and an RBI.
Christian Arroyo: Arroyo has been the team's most consistent offensive contributor over the last two weeks and that continued Friday as he banged out three hits while scoring two runs.
TWO DOWN
Rafael Devers: Devers has gone AWOL at the plate when the Red Sox need him most. He's well under .200 for the month and was 0-for-5 Friday night while stranding seven (!!) baserunners in the process.
Ryan Brasier: Brasier has been effective of late, but on Friday night, nearly everything he threw was over the heart of the plate. The Orioles made him pay dearly for his poor location, hammering him for five runs in two-thirds of an inning.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"We put up some good at-bats, but they kept going. They didn't stop. They were relentless. They hit everything -- fastballs, cutters, breaking balls. You name it, we called it, they hit it.'' Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The game marked the 12th time this season that the Red Sox have allowed 10 or more runs in a single game. Only four teams have done that more this season.
* The three homers off Kutter Crawford were a career-high for the pitcher.
* Xander Bogaerts was ejected for just the second time in his career while Alex Cora was ejected for the fourth time this year.
* Red Sox pitching has compiled a 5.93 ERA in 10 games vs. Baltimore this season.
UP NEXT: In the middle game of the weekend series, the Red Sox will start RHP Michael Wacha (7-1, 2.44) vs. Kyle Bradish (1-4, 6.28) at 4:05 p.m.