G90: Red Sox 8, Orioles 6

Orioles - 060 000 000 - 6  8  0
Red Sox - 240 100 10x - 8 13  0

Boston finishes a four-game sweep of the hapless Orioles (by a combined score of 32-13) and retains its one game lead in the AL East. The Red Sox have won six consecutive games and 10 of their last 11.

Umpire incompetence was the story in the middle innings, as showboating home plate umpire Marty Foster, utterly clueless to the feel and flow of the game, issued warnings to both teams after Kevin Youkilis was hit by a changeup (with two men on in a 6-6 game) from Jeremy Guthrie in the fourth. Then Foster tossed Weiland (4-8-6-2-2, 78) and Terry Francona when the Weiland hit Vladimir Guerrero on the right hand in the fifth.

Neither pitch was intentional, but after Vlad was hit, Foster walked out from behind the plate, took a few steps onto the grass towards the mound, and made an exaggerated, sweeping Townshend-esque windmill motion with his right arm, indicating that Weiland's day was done.

Weiland had given up a leadoff triple in the inning and if he had been allowed to stay in the game (by Foster, and by Francona), he was looking at a 1st/3rd-0 out situation, with Boston leading 7-6. His chance of qualifying for a win in his major league debut might have been slim, but at least it existed. Foster's unwarranted ejection brought that chance down to zero.

In the sixth, Baltimore's Mike Gonzalez threw an 0-1 pitch behind David Ortiz, nearly hitting him in the ass. As per the post-warning rules, Gonzalez and manager Buck Showalter were ejected, and it was interesting to see how little fuss Showalter made about getting tossed. That would lead one to believe that -- following Friday night's fracas, and after warnings being issued today, with two batters being hit and two ejections already -- Showalter still gave the green light for Gonzalez (or whoever was out there) to throw at Ortiz. So classy, Buck. (Reading through the SoSH game thread, it came as no surprise to learn the MASN Morons were defending this behaviour with every fibre of their beings.)

Since both the pitcher and manager would be tossed on an HBP, if Gonzalez acted on his own, then that means he didn't give a shit about his manager getting the boot in the sixth inning of a one-run game. I would think would bother Showalter. But maybe that's how it really happened. Maybe Showalter, a micro-managing, control freak, had no idea what Gonzalez was going to do, and was able to hide his emotions until he got into the clubhouse. But I doubt it.

After Weiland set down the Orioles on 12 pitches in the first, Boston scored twice, with Ortiz and Josh Reddick driving in the runs. Then Weiland struggled through a 33-pitch second inning, facing 11 batters and allowing seven hits and six runs. It was ugly. After a one-out walk, Weiland was battered for a home run, double, and two singles over his next 11 pitches. He gave up three consecutive RBI singles later in the inning after recording the second out.

But the Red Sox immediately rallied. With one out, Marco Scutaro golfed a dong to left, and then Dustin Pedroia went deep to left with two outs. Adrian Gonzlez doubled into the right field corner and Kevin Youkilis -- the Sultan of Sweat -- hit a bomb to dead center to tie the game at 6-6.

Weiland showed his poise by breezing through the third and fourth, allowing one baserunner in each frame, but getting a double play and a caught stealing to escape harm.

Boston took the lead in the fourth, when, with one out. Pedroia doubled, Gonzalez singled, and Yook was hit to load the bases. After warnings were issued, Guthrie walked Ortiz to force in a run. Jacoby Ellsbury singled in an insurance run in the seventh.

When Weiland was tossed in the fifth, Alfredo Aceves came in with runners at first and third, no one out, and Boston with a slim 7-6 lead. Aceves struck out Matt Weiters and Derrick Lee and escaped trouble when Blake Davis lined out to left. Aceves also set down the side in order in the sixth and seventh. It was a fantastic outing for Aceves, reminiscent of the 4.2 innings he threw in relief of Tim Wakefield on May 6 against the Twins, finishing the game and giving the bullpen a much-needed rest.

Mitch Atkins / Kyle Weiland

This is Weiland's major league debut. In 17 starts for Pawtucket this year, he had a 3.00 ERA. In 93 innings, he allowed 69 hits and 37 walks, while striking out 99. Weiland led all AAA pitchers with a .206 opponents batting average (69-for-335); lefties hit only .175.

Terry Francona:" We're excited about this. I'm not glad we're all banged up, but when you get to bring kids up like this, it is really exciting for us."

Atkins made seven relief appearances with the Cubs in 2009-10 and has one start for the Orioles this season, a strong six-inning outing against the Rangers last Tuesday. He has pitched 18 innings in his major league career.

Since winning their first game on April 8, the Red Sox have the best record in MLB: 53-29. ... Boston has won five in a row and nine of their last 10, while the Orioles have lost six straight and 11 of their last 12.

David Ortiz spoke about his role in Friday night's fight:

I feel like I was pushed last night to do something like that. This is a guy that I always face, and he never pitches in. ... I'm pretty sure he was trying to hit me. No question about that. After I hit the fly ball, he started screaming at me. I'm not going to take that. You saw the argument before, and after that, you are going to act like you are my daddy or something like that? I'm not going to take that.

Former Oriole Matt Albers's fist pump and look towards the Orioles' dugout after finishing the seventh inning on Friday probably added to Baltimore's growing annoyance and frustration.

[M]aybe [I] took a look over there. I mean, it's not something I'm very proud of, it's not something I should've done. Let my pitching speak for itself. I just kind of got caught up in the moment over there. I didn't say anything ...

Josh Beckett will test his hyperextended left knee during a side session today. He left Friday's game after five innings, but has said the knee will not be a lingering issue.

AL East: Rays/Yankees (Shields/Sabathia) at 1 PM.