The Red Sox earned a series sweep over the Orioles on Sunday as they earned an easy victory, 9-3, as once again, their bats came alive — this time early. For the second day, Boston hammered Baltimore pitching; however, instead of the victims being members of the bullpen, starter Jason Berken got knocked around. The Orioles finish their season series against the Red Sox in 2009 with a 2-16 record, which partly shows why they are in the cellar of the American League East.
Berken lost his 12th game of the season as he gave up six runs on ten hits. The Red Sox jumped on an inffective Berken in the opening frame Jason Bay plated in a run with an RBI-single, and then with the bases loaded, Mike Lowell drove had a two-run double, to give them a 3-0 lead.
The Red Sox raised the score to 4-0 as Victor Martinez had an RBI-single in the second inning, and then in the third, they took a 6-0 lead as Jacoby Ellsbury hit a ground double and plated in two runs. They inflicted more plain on Baltimore as Jason Bay hit his 35th homer — a solo shot — in the fourth inning to give them a 7-0 lead.
Luke Scott was hot again on Sunday as he hit his 24th homer — a two-run shot — to put Baltimore on the scoreboard. They would score their final run as Michael Aubrey earn an RBI as he walked with the bases loaded.
Boston would take a 8-2 lead as with the bases loaded, reliever Chris Waters plunked Jason Bay with a pitch in the sixth inning. Jacoby Ellsbury hit his 8th home run in the seventh inning off Brian Bass to widen the lead to 9-2.
Berken has looked better of late, but on Sunday, he just happened to not have it and a good hitting team like Boston took advantage of him. Well, I’m not sure if Berken will ever be a top-flight pitcher, but over the past month, he’s shown himself to be capable of pitching the majors, and could fit well as a fourth or fifth starter in the rotation. He goes after hitters, shows agressiveness, and is not afraid to challenge hitters — even when he fails.
But, I’m still really disturbed by the Oriole bullpen.
After what I saw on Saturday — in person — one has to wonder if the bullpen has to be revamped. In the past few weeks, there are times that the Baltimore bullpen has been atrocious and have made relatively close games into abominations. Although the Orioles have been competitive in the second half of this season — at times — as long as teams like the Red Sox and Yankees keep on hammering their pitching, there’s no way that they could be competitors in the AL East in future.
