Nick Markakis had a home run and 3 RBIs and rookie David Hernandez kept the hits to a minimum as the Baltimore Orioles went on to a 6-2 win over the Boston Red Sox in front of 37,606 on a nice summer Sunday afternoon for baseball at Fenway Park.
The win for the Orioles (42-55) snaps an 11-game losing streak at Fenway Park. The Red Sox drop to 57-40 and fall 2.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East.
Hernandez is just the latest in a string of rookie pitchers to shutdown the Red Sox. He scattered just 5 hits over 7 innings and allowed one run while striking out 2 to pick up his third win of the season.
Jim Johnson allowed a run on a hit and a walk with a strikeout in an inning out of the bullpen and George Sherrill worked a perfect 9th.
The struggles in a Red Sox uniform continued on Sunday for John Smoltz, mainly his struggles with 2-outs. Four of the six runs Smoltz allowed came with two outs. He threw 86 pitches in 5 innings, giving up 9 hits and 1 walk while recording 6 strikeouts.
Justin Masterson worked two innings and walked one while striking out 2. Takashi Saito allowed a hit and walked two while striking out 1 in 1 1/3 innings. Ramon Ramirez retired the only two batters he faced on three pitches.
Jacoby Ellsbury had his third multi-hit game in a row with a 2-hit effort and his 45th stolen base of the season. Newcomer Adam LaRoche also added two hits while Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Drew had the other hits for the local nine. Pedroia and Jed Lowrie had the RBIs.
It’s tough watching a future Hall of Famer struggle on the mound. He seems to get too careful with two outs and it’s cost him in his last few outings.
The Red Sox will look to get back on track tomorrow when the Oakland A’s come into the Fens for a 4-game set. Trevor Cahill will start for the A’s and Josh Beckett takes the ball for the Red Sox.
