For the second straight night, the Orioles have beaten the Red Sox, this time by a score of 5-4.
The Orioles were tied at four after the Red Sox had a four-run eighth inning thanks to a RBI-single by Adrian Gonzalez followed by a three-run homer by Kevin Youkilis. The bullpen in the eighth inning – Jeremy Accardo, Clay Rapada and Koji Uehara – could not hold off the Red Sox.
I had an eerie feeling in the eighth inning that Boston was going to explode and become a factor in the Wednesday’s game. Their lineup is too strong and too good to be held back for two consecutive nights.
However, hope for Baltimore came in the eighth inning as Vladmir Guerrero plated in Derek Lee to break the tie.
Kevin Gregg – who has earned the ire of many fans over the past few weeks – earned his fourth save by pitching a perfect ninth inning for the second night in a row.
Uehara earned the win, his first of the year.
For the Orioles, Luke Scott provided some early offense with a two-run homer in the fourth inning and then Adam Jones followed up with a solo homer of his own. In the fifth inning, Brian Roberts plated in a run during the fifth inning to give Baltimore a 4-0 lead.
Once again, Jeremy Guthrie could not get a victory despite ample run support. He threw six scoreless innings, striking out six.
He was locked into a pitching duel with Josh Beckett for the first three innings before the Orioles broke out.
The Orioles blew a lead against the Red Sox; however, they fought and grinded out a win. Amazing. I watched bits and pieces of it, and caught the end.
The two guys that fans were worried about the past two weeks at the plate – Vladmir Guerrero and Derrek Lee – have started to put the ball on the bat a bit more. Now they are getting hits through and producing bit by bit.
I didn’t bring up the amazing work of Zach Britton – Tuesday’s starting pitcher for the Orioles on Tuesday.
He won against Boston, pitching six innings of one-run ball against a team full of grinders, All-Stars and professional hitters. I don’t think he was at his best, but he used a nice assortment of pitches – especially his sinker – to stymie the Red Sox.
Also, Britton is the first rookie starter in the team’s history to win four games in April.
To win four games in a month is an accomplishment, but for a rookie – who by the way wasn’t even supposed to be on the team to start the season – in his first month in the majors is unbelievable.
It’s hard to say if Britton will be the new ace of the Orioles, much less have a long career, but so far, it’s been a nice development for a team looking for talent to get them past a long stretch of losing.
Finally, the crowds at Oriole Park for the Red Sox series so far have been underwhelming. I figured the big crowds stayed away from the ballpark due to the hockey playoffs and fans wanted to see the Boston Bruins, plus the month of April, the economy, in addition to the series falling during the week.
But as the Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly noted, those reasons are little excuse for the lack of fans at the park this week in his opinion.
What do you all think?
