It was a tale of two different games. There was the game in which the Boston Red Sox were winning 9-1 in the 5th inning.
Then the heavens opened up and brought on a rain delay. After a rain delay of one hour and eleven minutes and two good innings from Justin Masterson, the game took a dramatic turn for the worse.
Trailing 10-1 in the 7th inning, the Baltimore Orioles rallied for ten unanswered runs in the 7th and 8th innings to beat the Red Sox 11-10 in front of 31,969 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday night.
The Red Sox fall to 47-30 and see their lead shrink to 2.5 games in the AL East as the Yankees won. The Orioles improve to 35-42.
The Red Sox bullpen, which is the best if not of the best in baseball, was absolutely horrible.
After Masterson struck out four-of-six batters he faced in the 5th and 6th inning, he couldn’t buy an out in the 7th. He was charged with five runs on five hits. Manny Delcarmen went 2/3 of an inning, allowing a hit.
Hideki Okajima finished off the 7th and then got light up like the Christmas tree at Rockerfeller Center in December. He didn’t retire anyone in the 8th as he allowed four runs on five hits. Takashi Saito didn’t have any luck either as he was charged with the winning run that came off of a hit off of Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.
By the way, John Smoltz pitched in the good part of the game for the Red Sox. It was vintage Smoltz as he allowed a run on three hits and a walk while striking out two. It’s just a shame the rain came as he throwing well enough to get a win.
Rich Hill’s woes continued at Camden Yards as he was also lit up like fireworks on the 4th of July. He went 3 1/3 innings allowing nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits and three walks while striking out three.
The Orioles bullpen allowed one run on seven hits over the final 5 2/3 innings.
Kevin Youkilis fell a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two-run homer. Jacoby Ellsbury also had three hits and two RBIs including a solo home run. Jeff Bailey, who replaced Mike Lowell on the roster, also had three hits.
Dustin Pedroia continues to rake from the No. 2 spot in the lineup as he had two hits and three RBIs. Julio Lugo and David Ortiz also had two hits each with Big Papi driving in a run. Jason Varitek had the other RBI for the visiting nine.
The Red Sox are a resilient bunch and there’s no doubt in my mind that they will put this loss behind them.
It’s a quick turnaround as it’s afternoon baseball at Camden Yards on Wednesday afternoon. Terry Francona will look to Josh Beckett to eat some innings up and get the Red Sox back on the winning track. He’ll be opposed by rookie Brad Bergesen.
