G17: Red Sox 7, Orioles 5

Red Sox - 000 040 030 - 7 11  1
Orioles - 000 210 110 - 5 10  2

I need to come up with a name for my favourite kind of Red Sox rallies - because the team had two of them tonight. In both the fifth and eighth innings, the first two Boston batters were retired before the fun began.

In the fifth, Mookie Betts worked a two-out walk off Miguel Gonzalez (6-8-4-1-1, 91). Dustin Pedroia singled to left and David Ortiz homered just over the wall in right-center. Then Hanley Ramirez followed two pitches later with a solo dong to left. Those two taters erased a 2-0 Orioles lead and gave the Red Sox a 4-2 advantage.

Although the Orioles tied the game at 4-4 off Rick Porcello (6-6-4-2-7, 97), Boston once again used a stealth rally (?) to grab the lead for good. After Orioles reliever Tommy Hunter got two outs, Brian Matusz came in from the pen. Matusz faced only one batter, throwing eight pitches and walking Pablo Sandoval. Darren O'Day was next and he faced Allen Craig, pinch-hitting for Daniel Nava. Craig reached first on an error by third baseman Manny Machado. Brock Holt then clubbed a high 1-2 fastball - at the letters or up near the shoulders - to deep right field for a three-run home run. It was his first home run of the season and it raised his average to .424.

Chris Davis hit a solo shot off Junichi Tazawa in the bottom half of the inning and when Delmon Young singled, the Orioles brought the potential tying run to the plate. Tazawa fell behind Rey Navarro 3-0, but came back to get him to fly to Betts in shallow center and end the inning.

In the ninth, Koji Uehara gave up a leadoff single to Caleb Joseph and, after striking out Travis Snider, surrendered another single to Steve Pearce. Although Pearce's hit was nearly into the left field corner, he held at first with a long single. Baltimore had runners at the corners and the potential winning run at the plate. Uehara went to a full count on Machado before getting him to pop out to shortstop. Then he overpowered Jimmy Paredes, striking him out swinging to end the game.

Ortiz and Holt each singled and homered and drove in three runs. ... Betts reached base four times, on two singles, a walk, and an HBP. ... Sandoval singled twice and walked. ... Porcello struck out his first five batters and six of the first seven Orioles he faced.

The Yankees snapped the Mets' 11-game winning streak, winning 6-1. New York and Boston are tied for first in the East at 10-7.

Rick Porcello / Miguel Gonzalez

Betts, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, LF
Napoli, 1B
Sandoval, 3B
Nava, RF
Holt, SS
Hanigan, C

Through 16 games, the Boston bats have been cold. The Red Sox are hitting .230 (9th in the AL) with a .325 OBP (7th) and .344 slugging percentage (12th). They lead the AL with 133 men left on base.

With runners at second and/or third, they are batting only .196 (13th) with a .279 OBP (14th) and .331 slugging percentage (13th).

Over their last eight games, Boston is hitting .194/.292/.300.

The Red Sox are in a three-way tie atop the AL East, tied at 9-7 with the Blue Jays and Yankees. The Yankees are hosting the Mets (13-3, the best start in franchise history), who have won 11 consecutive games.