‘O’ wow! Sawx nearly no-hit by abysmal Baltimore

BALTIMORE — It all seemed rather surreal, watching Asher Wojciechowski head into the seventh inning working on a no-hitter.

After all, the 30-year-old journeyman hadn’t won a major league game since 2017, came in with a 6.49 career ERA and was facing the highest-scoring team in the majors.

Alas, Wojciechowski lost his bid to make history when Rafael Devers opened the seventh with a double off the right-field wall. But the righthander was more than delighted to finish with a shared one-hitter while helping the Orioles beat the Red Sox 5-0 Sunday.

After striking out 10 over 7 ¹/3 innings while completely dominating the defending World Series champions, Wojciechowski wore a huge smile.

“A day like that, when you’re throwing the pitches and they’re doing pretty much exactly what you want them to do, that’s what you dream for as a pitcher,” he said.

It was, without question, the finest performance of his life.

“Just a great day, a great team win,” Wojciechowski said. “Just a lot of fun today.”

After pitching previously for eight different organizations and spending all of last season in the minor leagues, Wojciechowski (1-3) earned his first victory since Aug. 8, 2017, when he beat San Diego as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.

Although he had never worked more than six innings in his previous 14 starts, Wojciechowski was operating without a pitch limit while the no-no was intact.

“It was going to be his moment for as long as he could go,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

Prior to the seventh, the only base runner against Wojciechowski was Brock Holt, who was hit by a pitch in the third and drew a walk in the sixth.

Wojciechowski got three straight outs after Devers’ hit, then was sent out for the eighth inning. He retired the first batter, issued a walk and was pulled after his 105th pitch.

Many in the crowd of 18,173 — even many of the Boston fans — vigorously applauded his performance as he walked toward the dugout.