When you leave the bases loaded 3 times, odds are your not going to win. That was the case for the Red Sox on Friday night as Nick Markakis and Melvin Mora’s 4 hits each led the Baltimore Orioles to a 6-3 win over the beloved Red Sox.
The Orioles got on the board first with 2 outs in the 1st inning. Markakis came around to score on a Ramon Hernandez double after a double of his own. Former Devil Dog Ray Aubrey Huff hit a single to score Hernandez to make it 2-0 O’s without the Sox batting yet in the game.
The Sox managed to get the 2 runs back in the 2nd inning. One came when Jason Varitek scored on a Julio Lugo double. After Lugo’s double, Coco Crisp singled and Big Papi walked, loading up the bases for Manny. Manny didn’t disappoint the Fenway faithful when he drew a walk from Baltimore starter Brian Burres to tie it up at 2. Kevin Youkilis came up to the plate as one of the Sox’s hottest hitters but flew out to center, leaving the bases loaded for the second time.
The 5th inning brought some fine awful fielding by Wily Mo Peña. After Markakis and Miguel Tejada singled, Hernandez brought in Markakis with a RBI groundout. Tavarez then got Huff to ground out setting the stage for WMP. WMP, who we all know is a defensive liability when he plays the field, misplayed a Mora hit that bounced into the bullpen for a RBI ground rule double that scored Tejada. Jay Gibbons hit a liner that WMP totally misplayed that allowed Mora to score making the score 5-2 O’s.
The Sox were able to get one run back but yet again left the bases loaded in the 7th.
Tavarez was not effective in my opinion. He went 5 innings, gave up 10 hits, allowed 5 runs (4 earned), and struck out 2. The Sox bullpen was good though, only allowing 1 run on 3 hits over 4 innings.
Notes: Devern Hansack was sent down before the game and Javier Lopez was recalled.
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