Orioles - 000 020 001 - 3 9 3 Red Sox - 301 401 10x - 10 15 0On May 1, 1918, Walter Johnson pitched a four-hit shutout and the Senators beat the Red Sox 5-0 at Fenway Park. That dropped the team's record from 11-2 to 11-3.
Nearly 100 years later, Andrew Benintendi and Hanley Ramirez each drove in three runs to push Boston past the Orioles 10-3, making the 2018 team the first in franchise history to begin a season 12-2.
L W W W W W W W W W L W W W
Hector Velazquez turned in yet another fine start (5-6-2-1-5, 86). He allowed a leadoff single to start the game, but retired the next eight batters, including striking out the side in the second. With two outs in the third, he gave up a double and walk, but got Manny Machado on a liner to center.
Baltimore got two hits to open the fourth, but Velazquez ended that threat with a double play (Adam Jones) and strikeout (Tim Beckham). Pedro Alvarez hit a two-run homer in the fifth, but Boston had eight runs by that point.
After Joe Kelly pitched a perfect sixth, Marcus Walden worked the final three innings for his first career save. He fanned two in the seventh and got an inning-ending double play in the eighth. He allowed a run in the ninth as Chris Davis doubled and came around on two groundouts.
In what is quickly becoming routine (though no less exciting), the Red Sox attacked the opposing starter in the early innings. Alex Cobb (3.2-10-8-1-0, 79) did not retire any of the first four Boston batters in his Orioles debut. Mookie Betts walked and Benintendi doubled him home. Betts hurt his left knee sliding into the catcher's shin guards and was eventually pulled after three innings. X-rays on his foot were negative.
Ramirez bashed a knuckle-curve over the Wall in left for his third home run of the year. (The ball is a blur in front of red-shirt guy's face, below.)
J.D. Martinez, who had three hits and two RBI, smoked a single to center. Cobb got Rafael Devers to hit into a double play. Jackie Bradley singled, but Sandy Leon flied to center. Martinez homered into the Red Sox bullpen in the third. Leon began the fourth with a single and Tzu-Wei also singled (with one out). With two outs, Benintendi singled to right for two runs and Ramirez doubled to left to give the Red Sox a 8-0 lead.
Lin batted in the fifth with runners on second and third and one out, but he lined out to Machado, who threw to third to double off Bradley. Swihart doubled in the sixth and scored on Martinez's single off the Wall. With two outs in the seventh, Brock Holt reached on an infield hit and scored on Swihart's single.
When Betts left the game, Swihart took over in left, Benintendi moved to center, and Bradley went to right. JBJ (playing in right for the first time since 2015) made a great diving catch in the gap.
Martinez had three hits and five of his teammates - Benintendi, Ramirez, Holt, Line, and Swihart - each had two.
The game between the Tigers and the third-place Yankees was postponed because of bad weather. The teams will play a day-night doubleheader on Sunday. The Yankees are now 5 GB.
Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Ramirez, 1B
Martinez, DH
Devers, 3B
Bradley, CF
Leon, C
Holt, 2B
Lin, SS
Last night: The Marlins scored three runs on a sacrifice fly. ... The Angels moved Shohei Ohtani from #8 to #7 in the lineup. He increased his OPS to 1.191 (which would lead all of MLB if he had enough qualifying AB). ... Five of last night's 11 winning teams (45%) were "obriened" (i.e., winning the game but being outhit by the losing team).
The Red Sox (now 11-2) have never started a season 12-2.
ReplyDeleteRodriguez threw 104 pitches last night - the first Boston starter to top 100 this year.
Red Sox starting pitchers have a MLB-best 1.97 ERA. The next-lowest team is the Astros at 2.79.
The Red Sox have scored 6+ runs in each of their last 6 games - the longest streak of scoring 6+ runs in a game since 2017. (I'll bet O'Brien mentions this unamazing factoid today.)
Since July 29, 2016, Boston is 82-4 (.953) when scoring 6+ runs.
Betts has driven in at least one run in 5 consecutive games, the 4th time in his career he has done so as a leadoff hitter.
Benintendi reached base in his last 9 games with a PA, posting a .447 OBP, and has reached multiple times in 7 of those 9 games.
This past Wednesday., April 11:
ReplyDeleteTwo minor leaguers for the Giants hit for the cycle in the same game!
"Even having two cycles in close proximity to each other is exceedingly rare. In the Major Leagues, it's only been accomplished by two players on the same day twice -- Sept. 17, 1920 by Bobby Veach of the Detroit Tigers and George Burns of the New York Giants and on Sept. 1, 2008 by Stephen Drew of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Adrian Beltre of the Seattle Mariners. Two players on the same team accomplishing it in the same game might be a first."