The Boston Red Sox are slowly coming out of their early-season slump. They’re getting better starting pitching and much stronger hitting.
In fact, Boston has scored 39 runs in its last five games — four of which have been wins. That offense carried the World Series champions to a victory Tuesday night over the Orioles, and the Red Sox will be looking for more of the same when the three-game series concludes in Baltimore on Wednesday night.
The Red Sox won Tuesday by banging out three homers in an 8-5 victory. Mitch Moreland got the big hit of the night, a three-run blast that snapped a 3-3 tie.
J.D. Martinez had gone without a homer for 62 at-bats, according to MLB.com, but ended that skid with a two-run homer in the first. That also was his 200th career homer.
In addition to Moreland and Martinez, Xander Bogaerts also homered. Boston scored 30 runs in the final three games of its series with the White Sox, and after getting just one in Monday’s 4-1 loss to Baltimore, the Red Sox got rolling again.
They also helped their pitchers with some good plays in the field. Mookie Betts made a few tough catches in right as did Jackie Bradley Jr. in center, robbing the Orioles a few times.
“Their defense [was good],” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told the media after the game. “They saved a lot of runs.”
Boston also may have gotten some good news earlier about David Price, just placed on the injured list Monday (elbow tendinitis). The team’s website said he played catch on flat ground in Baltimore on Tuesday.
“He’s feeling good,” Boston manager Alex Cora told the team’s website. “We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, but it was good. We’ll see how he reacts tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.”
The Orioles keep running into the same problems — starters who can’t go long enough and pitchers allowing home runs. David Hess lasted just four innings and gave up two homers, while relief pitcher Branden Kline came on in the fifth to give up Moreland’s three-run blast.
The Baltimore offense got going again as the team has scored nine runs overall in the first two games versus the Red Sox. They finished with two homers and cut a 6-3 lead to one run in the eighth before Boston added two in the ninth.
Rio Ruiz and Hanser Alberto both homered for the Orioles in the loss.
Baltimore had gotten two great starts from Dylan Bundy (7 1/3 shutout innings) and John Means (seven innings, one run) in its past two games. Those efforts were big reasons the Orioles won both games.
The Orioles did better in relief on Tuesday, especially thanks to Gabriel Ynoa, who threw three shutout innings.
MLB.com said Ynoa’s ERA fell to 0.79 in 11 1/3 innings this season. Hyde said after the game that he’s been very impressed with Ynoa, and the club will be trying to get him into tougher situations since the right-hander has been pitching so well.
Chris Davis also might have made the best defensive play of the night. The Baltimore first baseman made a diving stop of a Christian Vazquez grounder between first and second in the fourth.
Davis realized he was too far away from first and still on his knees, so he flipped the ball backward to second baseman Alberto, who was running behind him and easily got to first for the out.
Andrew Cashner (4-1, 4.71) will go for the Orioles on Wednesday versus Chris Sale (1-5, 5.25), who won his first game this season in his last start for Boston.
Cashner is 2-1 with a 4.24 ERA against the Red Sox in three career starts. Sale, meanwhile, has a 7-2 career record and a 2.79 ERA versus the Orioles in 18 games, 12 of which were starts.