Price earns 1st victory of season as Sox top Orioles

BALTIMORE — David Price returned to form against the Baltimore Orioles, and after he was done, the skilled left-hander made this perfectly clear: The best is yet to come.

Price took a three-hitter into the eighth inning to earn his first win of the season, Hanley Ramirez homered and the Boston Red Sox rolled to a 5-2 victory Saturday night.

Making his second start since coming off the disabled list with a strained left elbow, Price (1-0) allowed one run over seven-plus innings. After belatedly launching his 2017 season with an uneven outing against the White Sox on Monday, Price looked every bit like a five-time All-Star against Baltimore.

“I feel like it’s going to continue to get better,” he said. “That’s my fourth outing with an umpire, my fourth outing with guys on base. I expect to get a lot better than this.”

Price was plenty good enough in this one.

He gave up three hits, struck out seven and did not allow a runner past first base until Manny Machado led off the seventh with a home run.

Red Sox 5, Orioles 2

That was the only flaw in an otherwise sparkling performance that enabled Price to improve to 12-5 lifetime against the Orioles, including 7-0 at Camden Yards.

“The game was about not being able to do much against one of the best pitchers in the game,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Craig Kimbrel gave up a ninth-inning run, but picked up his 16th save in 17 tries.

Boston took the lead for good in the fourth inning when Ramirez lined an 0-2 pitch from Dylan Bundy into the left-field seats after Xander Bogaerts drew a leadoff walk.

Bundy (6-4) threw 100 pitches over five innings in his fourth start this season against Boston. He’s 2-2 in those games.

“I was making pitches and they were just fouling off, pitcher’s pitches,” Bundy said. “You can’t control that.”

There once was a time when Price had the same kind of problem. In this one, he needed only 92 pitches to get into the eighth.