G54: Orioles 12, Red Sox 7

Red Sox - 000 005 002 -  7 12  0
Orioles - 000 221 34x - 12 11  1

Baltimore clubbed seven home runs - none of them cheap - as they routed the Red Sox and salvaged a split of the four-game series. All 12 of the Orioles' runs scored on the dongs.

4th inning: Mark Trumbo 2-run HR off Rick Porcello
5th inning: Adam Jones 2-run HR off Porcello
6th inning: Mark Trumbo solo HR off Porcello
7th inning: Manny Machado 3-run HR off Junichi Tazawa
8th inning: Pedro Alvarez solo HR off Tazawa; Francisco Pena 2-run HR off Noe Ramirez; Adam Jones solo HR off Ramirez

The seven home runs allowed tied a Red Sox record. It happened three previous times before tonight:

May 30, 1961: Yankees 12, Red Sox 3
May 17, 1967: Orioles 12, Red Sox 8
August 8, 2004: Red Sox 11, Tigers 9

The Red Sox's bats were utterly silent except for the sixth and ninth innings.

Trailing 4-0 and having managed only one hit through the first five innings, Boston suddenly woke up in the sixth. Christian Vazquez doubled into the right field corner. Mookie Betts - who did not hit a home run tonight - walked. Dustin Pedroia singled to right, loading the bases. Xander Bogaerts drilled the ball off the left field wall, bringing home two runs. But because Boagerts was admiring what he thought would be a grand slam, he got only a single out of it. (It extended his hitting streak to 26 games.) David Ortiz followed by crushing a three-run dong to right-center - and Boston led 5-4! Hanley Ramirez singled - and that was the end of Ubaldo Jimenez's night. Mychal Givens came in. Travis Shaw struck out and Ramirez was thrown out trying to steal. Blake Swihart singled, but Chris Young struck out.

Down by seven with three outs to go, Swihart and Young both singled. Vazquez stroked a pitch to right field, but Young was forced at second. Thinking the ball might be caught by an infielder, Young darted back to the bag. Even as the ball was going into right field, he was still moving towards first. He was easily thrown out 9-6. (For some reason, NESN's Jerry Remy tried very hard to tell us why Young had not made an embarrassing mistake. His explanation was not credible.) Betts singled in one run and after Pedroia popped out, Bogaerts was credited with a single and RBI when Nolan Reimold dropped his line drive in left field. Ortiz popped to left to end the game.

Rick Porcello / Ubaldo Jimenez

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Swihart, LF
Young, CF
Vazquez, C

John Harper, Daily News:

In some sense the Yankees are always measuring themselves against the Red Sox, which so far makes 2016 nothing short of their worst nightmare.

It's not just because the Sox have bashed their way to the top of the AL East, leading the league in runs scored, but the way they're doing it, led by a trio of young position players age 23, 23, and 26, respectively, bodes well for a bright future in Boston, as well as the present.

Yes, in Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr., the Red Sox might just have the makings of a young nucleus around which they’ll win multiple championships ...

In short, this has been a season to forget on many levels for the Yankees, in particular because it's hard to see them closing the gap between themselves and the Red Sox anytime soon.

Boston leads the AL East by two games while the Yankees are mired in fourth place, 7.5 GB.