All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox loss to the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
One big inning hurts Houck: The Orioles didn't exactly rough up Red Sox starter Tanner Houck and belt him all over the ballpark. Of their seven hits off him, none was for extra bases. But, somewhat predictably, the O's stacked their lineup with a bunch of lefties -- seven, counting switch-hitters -- and put the ball in play a lot against Houck. In the fourth inning of a game that was tied 1-1, the Orioles sent seven men to the plate and three came around to score. Baltimore began the inning with three straight singles, producing a run. Next came a sac bunt, an infield single and a sacrifice fly to produce two more. That, as it turned out, was enough to hold up for the home team. The Red Sox had won each of Houck's four outings, so Wednesday's setback marked the first time the Sox failed to win a game with Houck on the mound. Houck got just a couple of swing-and-misses all afternoon and struck out just two. But if this -- five innings, three earned runs allowed -- constitutes an "off'' start for Houck, the Red Sox will gladly take that kind of dependability.
Offense quieted: The Red Sox came into the game with third-most runs scored in all of baseball, but there wasn't much thump in the lineup in their loss. They got a solo homer from Masataka Yoshida and a run-scoring single from Justin Turner and very little else out of their offense. Through the first five innings, they managed just two hits and at one point, starter Kyle Wells retired 10 in a row and 12 out of 13 as the Sox couldn't mount much of a threat. Ironically, they had some better scoring chances in the later innings against Baltimore's bullpen, a definite strength, But by then, the O's led comfortably and the Sox couldn't string enough hits together to mount another comeback. The two runs they managed were their lowest output since April 15 when they edged the Angels 2-1. In the nine games since, the Sox had not once failed to score at least four runs.
TURNING POINT
In the seventh inning, trailing by five, the Sox threatened with base hits from Kiké Hernandez and Jarren Duran giving the Sox runners at first and second and one out. But the Orioles went to hard-throwing righty Yennier Cano, who promptly retired two straight pinch-hitters -- first, Christian Arroyo and then Reese McGuire -- to strand two runners. By the ninth, when the Sox put the first two hitters on, the O's had added a critical insurance run and the game was out of reach.
TWO UP
Kiké Hernandez: Hernandez contributed a couple of bloop singles in three at-bats and has been steady in his return to the shortstop position, including an alert backup on a deflection off the glove of Valdez.
Jarren Duran: He keeps swinging well, chipping in with two more singles, including one off lefty reliever Danny Coulonbe, suggesting the Sox perhaps don't have to worry about him facing southpaws.
TWO DOWN
Red Sox bullpen: After pitching superbly for much of the season, the relievers have hit somewhat of a skid. On Thursday night, it was Kaleb Ort melting down, requiring the Sox to go to Kenley Jansen in a game they led by seven with three outs to go. Then, both Richard Bleier and John Schreiber allowed the Orioles to score insurance runs Wednesday.
Rafael Devers: Devers was 0-for-4 and is now hitless in his last nine at-bats, with his average sinking to .238.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"It was a good road trip. We went in there, that's a pretty good team in Milwaukee and this is a good team here, so we split on the road. Now we go home and just keep playing good baseball.'' Alex Cora on the team's 3-3 road swing.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Wednesday represented the last head-to-head meeting between the two teams until Sept. 8
* Masataka Yoshida extended his hitting streak to a season-high seven games with a homer in the second inning, his third homer in the last four games.
* Alex Verdugo has hit safely in 21 of 26 games this season.
* In six games against the Orioles this season, Red Sox starters have compiled a 7.90 ERA.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox enjoy a day off Thursday before beginning a series with Cleveland Friday night at 7:10 p.m. The pitching matchup will feature RHP Nick Pivetta (1-1, 4.58) vs. RHP Shane Bieber (1-1, 3.23).