June 14, 2019

G71: Red Sox 13, Orioles 2

Red Sox - 020 452 000 - 13 16  0
Orioles - 100 000 001 -  2  9  0
One night after hitting a season-high five home runs, the Red Sox set a new season-high by belting six home runs and crushing the Orioles on Friday night. Five of the six dongs were launched in a two-inning span in which Boston knocked out 10 hits and scored nine runs.

Eduardo Rodriguez (7-6-1-0-4, 114) gave up a home run to his second batter, but was mostly stingy after that, at one point retiring 12 batters in a row. His 114 pitches were the most in a game since he threw 117 on August 26, 2017, also against Baltimore.

The Red Sox's 11 home runs in the last two nights marks only the fourth time in team history the club has hit five or more homers in consecutive games. The 1977 team had a three-game streak, hitting 16 home runs in a magnificent June 17-19 sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park (9-4, 10-4, 11-1). They set the tone with four solo dongs off Catfish Hunter in the first inning of the first game! The two-game streaks came on June 7-8, 1950 (12 home runs) and July 21-23, 2002 (12 home runs).

Brock Holt wiped out the Orioles' 1-0 lead with his first long ball of the year, a two-run shot in the second. Holt batted with the bases loaded in the third, but took a called third strike to end the inning.

Christian Vázquez hit a long dong to left to kick off the fourth. Jackie Bradley doubled and Michael Chavis, facing reliever Dan Straily, knocked him in with a one-out single to left. With two down, J.D. Martinez connected for his 14th home run and Boston led 6-1.

The Red Sox went deep three more times of Straily in the fifth. After Holt was hit by a pitch, Bradley hit a one-out, two-run blast to right-center. Eduardo Núñez singled and Chavis boomed his 12th of the year to center. After the second out, Martinez cranked another one, also to center. 11-1.

In the sixth, singles by Holt and Vázquez and a walk by Chavis loaded the sacks for Andrew Benintendi, who knocked in two with a single to left.

JDM was on base five times, with two walks, two home runs, and a single. Rafael Devers was 3-for-4 and was also hit by a pitch before being pulled after six innings. Holt scored three runs and four others - Chavis, Martinez, Vázquez, and Bradley - scored twice.

The Orioles' third pitcher faced the most batters and threw the most pitches. Luis Ortiz (3.1-4-4-5-3, 80) started and faced 18 batters and Straily pitched to 12 hitters (1.1-7-7-0-2, 41). Josh Rogers went the final 4.1 innings (4.1-5-2-2-1, 82), facing 20 batters and throwing 82 pitches.

AL East: The Yankees were pummeled by the White Sox 10-2, while the Rays trailed the Angels 4-0 in the sixth before rallying for a 9-4 win. ... TBR –, MFY 0.5, BOS 6.0.
Eduardo Rodriguez / Luis Ortiz
Chavis, 1B
Benintendi, LF
Martinez, RF
Devers, 3B
Bogaerts, SS
Holt, 2B
Vázquez, C
Bradley, CF
Núñez, DH
The Red Sox activated Brian Johnson from the injured list and optioned Sam Travis to Pawtucket. ... Heath Hembree (forearm tightness) is unavailable today. ... Mookie Betts has the day off.

Alex Cora, last night:
Honestly, today was a different vibe in the dugout, which was good. ... We went to some [bullpen] guys that did different roles today ... They did an outstanding job, kept the game in check. ...[I]t was fun today hitting the ball out of the ballpark ... We found a way to win today instead of finding a way to lose.
AL East: MFY –, TBR 0.5, BOS 6.5. ... Angels/Rays, 7 PM. MFY/White Sox, 8 PM.

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