May 18, 2018

G45: Orioles 7, Red Sox 4

Orioles  - 100 400 101 - 7 10  1
Red Sox  - 001 020 010 - 4 13  1
Drew Pomeranz was awful yet again (4-7-5-3-2, 81). The Red Sox battled back in the eighth and, with two outs, trailed 6-4 and had the bases loaded for Mookie Betts, but he popped out to first.

When Pomeranz walked the game's first batter, Trey Mancini, on four pitches, it was a portend of what was to come. In addition to scoring a run in the first and four more in the fourth, the Orioles had runners at second and third with one out in the third, but could not cash in.

Chris Davis opened the fourth with a double and Danny Valencia singled him to third. Pomeranz got two outs, but he walked Mancini. Adam Jones stroked a two-run single to left and an error by Andrew Benintendi put Orioles at second and third. Both runners scored on Manny Machado's single.

The Red Sox closed to within two runs in the fifth. Singles from Eduardo Nunez and Christian Vazquez put runners at first and third with one out. Betts, who had hit his 14th home run in the third, doubled home Nunez. Vazquez scored on Benintendi's single, but that was the end of the rally as Hanley Ramirez grounded into a double play.

Vazquez doubled with one out in the seventh and Benintendi walked with two outs, but Ramirez again ended the inning, this time with a line out to right.

In the eighth, Xander Bogaerts reached on Mancini's two-base error. Reliever Richard Bleier got Rafael Devers to groundout for the second out, but Nunez's doubled in Bogaerts and Brock Holt followed with an infield single. Brad Brach took over, facing pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland, who worked an eight-pitch walk. Betts popped out on Brach's 1-2 pitch.

The Orioles' win snapped a string of 13 consecutive road losses. Baltimore's last victory away from Camden Yards had been on April 8.
Alex Cobb / Drew Pomeranz
Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Ramirez, 1B
Martinez, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Devers, 3B
Nunez, 2B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
Cobb started at Fenway Park on April 14 and lasted only 3.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and 8 runs. Boston won 10-3.

After two decent six-inning starts, Pomeranz struggled in his last outing. In four-plus innings against the Blue Jays, he gave up five hits and issued five walks.

J.D. Martinez has reached base by hit or walk in 22 consecutive games (since April 29) , with a .393/.463/.774 line. Martinez has hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games, batting .400 and slugging .800.

The Mighty Mookie Betts is hitting .444 (12-for-27) over his last six games. Betts leads the major leagues in runs scored, total bases, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+, Runs Created, and Win Probability Added, and is tied for the lead in hits.

Betts leads his nearest challenger by 73 points in slugging percentage and 93 points in OPS. He is second in doubles, home runs, and on-base percentage (only .003 behind the leader), and is fourth in steals.

Martinez is third in MLB in both average and slugging.

Hey! We have some good players, too! There's Machado and ... umm ... err ... ah, go to hell!

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