O’s erase 6-run deficit vs Red Sox bullpen, win 12-8
May 27, 2022, 8:23 AM | Updated: 9:08 pm
Baltimore Orioles outfielders Ryan McKenna, top rear, Austin Hays (21) and Cedric Mullins celebrate the team's win over the Boston Red Sox in a baseball game at Fenway Park, Friday, May 27, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)
(AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)
BOSTON (AP) — Anthony Santander hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and also had a two-run homer, helping the Baltimore Orioles overcome a pair of six-run deficits to beat the Boston Red Sox 12-8 Friday night.
Baltimore trailed 8-2 before Jorge Mateo hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and Austin Hays added a two-run shot in the eighth. The Orioles also capitalized on a throwing error by third baseman Rafael Devers for the tying run in the eighth.
“We’re just not giving at-bats away. When their pitchers are leaving stuff over the heart of the plate, we’re not missing it,” Hays said. “When they’re trying to get us to chase and they’re chasing strikeouts, we’re not chasing those pitches.”
The Orioles have won 20 games this season and Friday’s was the 11th comeback. Hays said the young lineup doesn’t lack for confidence, and it showed as the Orioles rallied against a team that has been rolling through May and had scored 33 runs over its previous three games.
“We could be down 30-0 and we’re still staying positive, still staying in it,” Santander said through a translator.
Santander’s single against Matt Strahm (2-2) dropped just in front of sliding right fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., allowing Cedric Mullins to score. Mullins led off the inning with a single, then took third on Trey Mancini’s single with a slick slide around Devers’ attempted tag.
The Orioles piled on three more runs in the ninth, and Jorge Lopez didn’t allow a runner in the bottom half. Baltimore’s bullpen limited Boston to one hit after the fifth inning.
Boston fans booed as the Orioles celebrated. Baltimore outhit the Red Sox 15-14 to open the five-game series.
“These guys are grinders out there,” said Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish, who lasted just 1 2/3 innings and left trailing 6-0. “We’re showing that we can hang with the best of them. I put us in a hole early and the bullpen picked me up, and then the bats came alive later in the game. “
Santander also hit a two-run homer in the fourth, Baltimore’s first hit of the night. Santander’s eighth homer of the season accounted for the only runs allowed by Garrett Whitlock, who delivered six strong innings before Boston’s bullpen unraveled.
Cionel Perez (3-0) got the win with one pitch, a popup by Christian Arroyo that ended the eighth inning.
Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer during a four-run first inning for Boston, and the Red Sox scored two more in the second.
Trevor Story, who entered Friday with seven homers and 21 RBIs in his previous seven games, was the only Boston batter without a hit Friday. Story did reach base in the eighth when reliever Dillon Tate hit him in the helmet as he tried to duck out of the way. J.D. Martinez and Bogaerts were also plunked by high fastballs, but neither appeared injured.
WELCOME BACK PAPI
Former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was back at Fenway Park for his first of two Hall of Fame inductions this summer. Ortiz headlined the Red Sox Hall of Fame class of 2020 in a ceremony that was delayed two years by the pandemic.
Ortiz will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in July. He was joined in the 2020 Red Sox class by former Boston catcher Rich Gedman, former general manager Dan Duquette, the late Bill Dinneen and Manny Ramirez, who was not at the ceremony.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: IF prospect Jahmai Jones had Tommy John surgery Friday, a procedure that ended this season for Jones and possibly a chunk of 2023, manager Brandon Hyde said. Jones was batting .212 with two homers for Triple-A Norfolk before going on the IL earlier this month with inflammation in his right elbow.
Red Sox: LHP Chris Sale (rib stress fracture) threw three bullpen sessions this week and could throw a simulated game or batting practice as early as next week, manager Alex Cora said. Cora said Sale could possibly start a minor-league rehab assignment in early June.
UP NEXT
RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-2, 4.10 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener for the Red Sox in a doubleheader Saturday. Hyde said he would likely go with RHP Jordan Lyles (3-4, 4.10) in the opener and come up with a spot starter to throw the first few innings in the nightcap. Boston planned to call-up RHP Josh Winckowski to start the evening game in his major league debut.
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