All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Wacha does his thing: Armed with a four-run lead before he even took the mound, Michael Wacha knew what he had to do: work quickly, attack the strike zone relentlessly and let his fielders do the work. He did just that, going six innings and allowing three runs on six hits. Importantly, Wacha didn't walk a single batter, as he relied mostly on his fastball and changeup, changing speeds and eye levels on the Orioles as the game went along. The one big inning they had against him came in the fifth when three hits and a sacrifice fly resulted in two runs. But he finished strong in the final inning, allowing just an infield hit before being pulled after 82 pitches. The outing marked only the fifth time all season that Wacha had allowed more than two runs, but given the run support he had from the outset, it barely mattered.
Devers breaks out: Heading into the game, Rafael Devers was struggling to keep his batting average above .200 since the All-Star break and last hit a homer back on Aug. 14, almost a month ago. But Devers changed that narrative in the first inning when he clubbed a monster shot to center, over the Red Sox bullpen, for a grand slam. He would go on to add a run-scoring single in the fourth inning and yet another single in the eighth before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth in a one-sided win. Devers has obviously been hampered by a hamstring injury for the last couple of months, and there have been occasional flashes of power from him. Still, the fact that he's not guaranteed to reach 30 homers -- his slam was his 26th homer this season -- is something very few people could have foreseen.
Offense unleashed: For the past few weeks, Alex Cora has been lamenting the team's inconsistency, noting that it can't seem to have the same offensive approach for an extended period. But for one day anyway on Saturday, all of those problems went away. It didn't hurt that the Sox got to face a starting pitcher -- the Orioles' Jordan Lyles -- who clearly wasn't right and had been battling illness. They jumped on Lyles for four runs in the first. But to their credit, they didn't let up - against Lyles or any of the four relievers who followed him. The Sox had just 1-2-3 inning all game long and had three innings in which they sent at least seven hitters to the plate, led by the ninth inning, when they batted around with 12 hitters. They had four innings in which they scored multiple runs, and part of that could be attributed to using the entire field -- something Cora has preached the importance of all season.
TURNING POINT
It's always nice to race out to a quick lead and the Red Sox did that in the first when they scored four runs on the Devers' grand slam. But when they scored four more runs in the fourth, sending eight men to the plate, that pretty much took the Orioles out of the game. That inning didn't feature any one big blow, but rather, was your basic "keep the line moving'' rally in which the Sox banged out six hits, including four in a row at one point.
TWO UP
Kiké Hernandez: At the plate, Hernandez amassed four hits, knocked in a run and scored two. In the field, he made a leaping grab at the wall to take a homer away from Ryan Mountcastle in the fourth inning.
Christian Arroyo: Arroyo had two hits, including a two-run homer while also playing an impressive first base, digging out a low throw from Xander Bogaerts to record an out.
ONE DOWN
Matt Strahm: Armed with a huge lead and needing to just throw strikes, the lefty reliever let up a run -- the only run the O's scored after Wacha departed.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"When we do the things that we did tonight, it's a fun offense.'' Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Before Saturday's game, the Orioles had outscored the Red Sox by 13 runs in the first 14 games this season, but the Sox' win evened that out by outscoring the O's by 13 in nine innings.
* Christian Arroyo has 13 RBI in his last 16 games.
* Michael Wacha is unbeaten in his last 11 starts, the longest undefeated stretch of his career.
* The Red Sox improved to 14-5 in Wacha's 19 starts this season.
* Trevor Story was charged with a two-base error in the eighth inning, marking just the 10th error made by the Sox over the last 37 games.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Orioles conclude their series Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m, with LHP Rich Hill (6-6, 4.79) vs. RHP Kyle Brasdish (3-5, 5.30)