BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 9, Orioles 8 - With some help, Boston walks off O's for first win

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES 

Duvall sends Sox home as winner with walk-off blast: When Masataka Yoshida lofted a routine fly ball to left with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox seemed headed for their second straight defeat. But Orioles left fielder Ryan McKenna inexplicably dropped the ball, which clanged off the heel of his glove. Given another out, the Red Sox took full advantage as Adam Duvall collected his fourth hit of the day, and second homer, on a line-drive missile that just cleared the Wall for a two-run homer. In all, Duvall had 13 total bases for the day. More importantly, it was the second straight game in which the Sox gamely battled back with their offense. On Thursday, they fell a run short. On Saturday, they got a win. Duvall is known for his pull power and showed it twice with homers. "That's a big part of my game,'' he said, "so to be able to execute that is big for me.

Sale shredded in first start: Chris Sale hadn't made a start at Fenway since September of 2021. After what happened Saturday, Sale probably wished that he had waited a little longer. He allowed three runs in the first on two homers, then four more runs in the third thanks to a three-run homer. It marked just the 10th time in his career that Sale had allowed seven runs or more in an outing. Sale's stuff wasn't bad -- his fastball was consistently 94-96 mph -- but his location was poor. "I left (my teammates) completely out to dry tonight,'' said Sale. "That's about as embarrassed as I've ever been on a baseball field. Hell, I was out there throwing batting practice. It just seemed like everything I threw up there, they were waiting for it.'' Sale went on to clarify that he had no evidence that he was tipping pitches. But either way, Sale has some work to do.

Bullpen pitches in: With the starter out of the game after just three innings, the Red Sox were forced to go to their bullpen early and often. Fortunately for the Red Sox, they were up to the challenge. Five Red Sox relievers combined to handle the final six innings and they allowed just one run after Sale departed. The O's managed a run off Zack Kelly in the fourth, but then the bullpen put up nothing but zeroes the rest of the way. Closer Kenley Jansen, who pitched the top of the ninth despite the Sox trailing by a run, was sharp, registering two strikeouts with his patented cutter.

TURNING POINT

In the seventh inning, with the Sox trailing 8-5, the Orioles got a leadoff double and a walk, giving them two on and no out. But John Schreiber got a flyout to center and then an inning-ending double play to keep the Sox within striking distance.

TWO UP 

Josh Winckowski: Winckowski tossed two shutout innings after the O's had scored eight runs in the first two innings, shutting down the Baltimore offense at a time when the Sox could ill-afford the visitors from continuing to stretch their lead.

Rafael Devers: Devers continued to mash, collecting three hits -- a double and two singles -- while knocking in a run. Devers should have had a second double but slightly overslid second base and was tagged out in the third inning.

TWO DOWN

Masataka Yoshida: Following a standout performance on Opening Day, Yoshida was hitless in five plate appearances.

Stopping the running game: For the second straight game, the Red Sox allowed five stolen bases in as many attempts by the Orioles, who are an incredible 10-for-10 in two games when it comes to steals. If you're looking for a bright spot, catcher Reese McGuire at least got two throws off Saturday, which was two more than he managed Thursday.

QUOTE OF NOTE

"Sometimes, you just suck and that's unfortunate. I've waited a while to pitch here in Fenway and to go out there and do that was embarrassing.'' -- Chris Sale.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

* The Red Sox have scored nine or more runs in each of their first two games to start the season for the first time since 1995.

* Duvall's walk-off homer was the first for the Red Sox since Franchy Cordero beat Seattle with a walk-off grand slam on May 22 of last season.

* The 10 stolen bases allowed over two games are the most allowed by the Red Sox since April 20-21, 2010, when they allowed 12

* The two-homer game was the 12th for Adam Duvall, who had a three-homer game at Fenway while with Atlanta.

UP NEXT

The two teams conclude their series Sunday at 1:35 p.m. with RHP Tanner Houck vs. LHP Cole Irvin.