Road drought halted
BOSTON – An Orioles offense that’s been wildly inconsistent this season broke out with some timely hitting Friday, ending a 13-game road losing streak that matched the longest in club history with a 7-4 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
After squandering some early scoring opportunities, the Orioles used a pair of two-run, two-out singles, from Adam Jones and Manny Machado, as part of a four-run fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie.
The win, which was the Orioles’ first away from Camden Yards since April 8 at Yankee Stadium, halted a skid that tied the club record set by the 1988 Orioles from April 8-28 that year.
A big reason the Orioles have fallen so deep into the American League East cellar has been their poor play on the road. Even after Friday’s win, the Orioles have the majors’ worst road record, having lost 17 of 21 away from Camden Yards this season.
The Orioles (14-30) appeared headed for another uneven offensive performance. They had the bases loaded with one out in the first, but managed just one run on Mark Trumbo’s RBI groundout. They put runners on the corners with one out in the third, but were unable to score. Then, Jonathan Schoop rounds the bases after hitting a homer against Boston. It was Schoop’s fourth homer and third since coming of the disabled list this month.
despite putting runners at second and third with no outs in the fourth inning, it looked as though the Orioles would come up empty again.
But after Trey Mancini drew a two-out walk to load the bases, Jones worked a patient at-bat, laying off two high fastballs from Boston lefty Drew Pomeranz before hitting a two-run single to left on a 2-1 pitch.
Machado followed with a tworun single of his own, pounding a first-pitch delivery off the Green Monster in left to give the Orioles a 5-1 lead. Machado now leads the majors with 42 RBIs.
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop added some cushion with a solo homer over the Monster off knuckleballer Steven Wright in the seventh. After Boston cut the margin to 6-4 in the eighth, Trumbo’s RBI double to rightcenter in the top of the ninth provided a valuable insurance run.
Right-hander Alex Cobb (1-5) earned his first win with the Orioles in his seventh start, allowing three runs on eight hits over 6
innings despite allowing 11 base runners.
Cobb made his first start with the Orioles on April 14 at Fenway Park, and failed to get out of the fourth inning after allowing eight runs (seven earned) on 11 base runners.
On Friday, Cobb overcame some middle-inning adversity. He Baltimore’s Jonathan Schoop is greeted by teammate Manny Machado after Schoop's home run against the Red Sox during the seventh inning. allowed hits to four of the first five batters he faced in the fifth inning, allowing two runs to cut the Orioles’ lead to 5-3. But after a mound visit by pitching coach Roger McDowell, Cobb induced an inning-ending double play ball from Hanley Ramírez to escape the inning.
Cobb, who was pulled with one out in the seventh after allowing a double to light-hitting catcher Christian Vázquez, has thrown quality starts in three of his past four outings. He owns a 3.38 ERA over his past four starts after starting the season with a13.11 ERA in his first three outings.
The Orioles bullpen bent but didn’t break through some tense moments. Mychal Givens entered for Cobb in the seventh and won a nine-pitch at bat against Mookie Betts, getting him to ground out after he had a homer and two doubles against Cobb. But Givens was charged with an unearned run in the eighth when Mancini dropped a fly ball off the bat of Xander Bogaerts in the left-field corner for a two-base error. Bogaerts scored on an RBI double by Eduardo Núñez off lefty Richard Bleier to make it a 6-4 game.
Brad Brach entered with two outs and runners at the corners. He immediately walked pinch hitter Mitch Moreland, but induced a popup from Betts to strand the bases loaded.
Brach overcame a two-out double by J.D. Martinez to pitch a scoreless ninth for his sixth save of the season.