FanPost

Sox Sweep Baltimore, Pick Up Another Game



August 15

E-Rod pitches for the Sox in the finale against Akin. The Orioles put two on with one out in the top of the first. A single to left originally loads the bases, but Hays breaks for the plate when the throw ricochets. Santander moves up to second in the meantime as Baltimore quickly takes a 1-0 lead. Rodriguez punches out back-to-back men to escape having given up only one. In their half of the inning, the Sox put two on with two out. The runners both move into scoring position on a wild pitch right before Martinez hits his twenty-third round-tripper into the Monster to give the home team a 3-1 lead. In the top of the third, a runner is at second with two out, but a strikeout ends the inning. A runner is at first with one out for Devers in the bottom of the inning, and he doubles off the Monster to put two runners in scoring position. An intentional walk loads the bases, but they are all stranded, a common theme in the recent past, so the Red Sox come out with nothing. A runner is at second with two out in the top of the fourth after a sacrifice bunt, but a line out ends the inning. Recent addition Kyle Schwarber leads off the bottom of the sixth with a double to right. A walk with one out puts two on. That pitch really should have been a strike. Plate umpire Greg Gibson has been very inconsistent all afternoon. I would not be surprised if someone is thrown out by the end of this. The zone has been floating like a sailboat today! Another walk loads the bases and leads to a pitching change. Hernández singles off the third-base umpire to bring in Schwarber and make it 4-1. That’s a rare break for the Orioles, because it would have been much worse had it gone into the outfield. That is the first run scored by either team since the first inning. Renfroe walks in a man as the Sox seek to turn today into another rout. It’s 5-1. This should come as no surprise given the Orioles’ record, but in my experience Boston teams have a reputation for getting pummeled by the bad teams. Vázquez scores from third on an infield single by Bogaerts when Baltimore flubs a double play, so it’s 6-1. Ryan McKenna makes a Superman catch in left to end the inning and keep more runs from scoring. The umpiring is so abysmal that a ball hit by Pedro Severino in the seventh clearly goes foul but is ruled a home run. It takes shouting from Cora, gesturing from the Sox and the fans, and booing from the fans before the umps get together and overturn this. It’s been years since I saw a game umpired this poorly. I have to think back to the horrible strike zone of the Houston series in the 2017 ALDS to remember the last time the umping was this bad!

A runner is at second with nobody out in the top of the seventh after a wild pitch, and Severino quickly moves to third on another one. A walk puts runners at the corners with one out for Mateo, who singles off of pitcher Ottavino and into right to bring in the first Oriole run since the first inning and make it 6-2. Ottavino leaves after taking that line drive to the shoulder and is replaced by Garrett Whitlock. The next two men are retired to end the inning. In the bottom of the frame, Schwarber hits a one-out double off the Monster and promptly moves to third on a groundout before being stranded, the eighth man left on base by the Sox this afternoon. With one out in the top of the ninth, Stewart doubles to right and moves to third on an infield single by Mateo, who moves up to second on an error by Devers at third base to put two in scoring position, but a pop out ends the game as the Sox complete the sweep with a 6-2 win this afternoon. It’s yet another comeback (remember that the Orioles scored in the top of the first).