Things got off to a bad start for the Red Sox. After retiring the first 2 Orioles batters he faced, Clay Buchholz threw a fastball low and inside to Nick Markakis, who took it high and out of the park. Clay would struggle to find his control for the rest of the inning, giving up two walks while throwing the ball into the ground before getting Luke Scott for the third out. Things got worse in the second, though, as 4 hits lead to 2 more runs. The defense didn't help him any, but Clay was wild for his short stint.
The Red Sox would load the bases in the top of the 2nd with 0 outs against Jeremy Guthrie, but only manage to push 1 across on a Yamaico Navarro groundout.
The score would stay at 3-1 as Scott Atchison and Boof Bonser combined for 3 scoreless innings before Miguel Abreu took a defensive swing at a high-inside fastball and managed to push it past the infield for a single. Abreu would steal second, and then score on a double to deep left (Ryan Kalish looked absolutely lost on the play) to push the lead to 4-1.
After having been thwarted all game long by lasers right at Orioles and great defensive plays, the Sox finally got their offense going in the 8th, as Jeremy Hermida and Ryan Kalish singled, setting up Angel Sanchez with an oppotunity to get the Sox closer. He did not dissapoint, smacking a 2-RBI triple to deep right field. Gil Velazquez would single up the middle to score Sanchez, and the game was tied. Mark Wagner would quickly untie it in the ninth with a game-winning solo homer over the left field wall. Robert Manuel would close it out, giving the Sox their 3rd win of Spring Training.
The real story of the game, though, was that Casey Kelly was pitching on TV. Kelly put together a good first inning, retiring the Orioles 1-2-3 in the 7th. His fastball sat around 92-93, and he was hitting corners as advertised with great movement on his secondary pitches. In the 8th, Kelly allowed just a walk, but his fastball sat around 89 when pitching out of the stretch.
Mark Wagner had a double down the third base in addition to his game winning homer (and showed some wheels getting to second to boot). One of the most encouraging performances of the night came from Jed Lowrie, who started the game at 3rd. After battling an injury to his left wrist since 2008, Lowrie managed two hits from the left side of the plate, including a deep double off the wall which almost got out of the park. If Lowrie can get his production against righties back to where it was before the injury, he would have a good shot at returning to the promise Sox fans saw out of him early.
The Red Sox play against the Cardinals tomorrow and Marlins on Tuesday before their next game with radio coverage on Wednesday against the Rays. The next game with television coverage is on Saturday against the Pirates.