Baltimore salvages game
BALTIMORE (AP) — Trey Mancini hit a go-ahead solo homer and later knocked in an insurance run, Jorge López and four relievers combined on a four-hitter and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Monday night.
The Orioles had dropped their first six games at Camden Yards this season against the Red Sox and avoided a four-game sweep. It was the first time the home team won in 10 games between the teams this season.
Boston still has the best record (22-14) and the best road record (12-5) in baseball.
Baltimore’s bullpen combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings, retiring all 10 batters it faced. Tanner Scott (2-2) struck out his only hitter to complete the sixth, Travis Lakins Sr. and Paul Fry both completed perfect innings, and César Valdez worked the ninth for his eighth save.
Mancini put the Orioles ahead 2-1 with a blast to center off reliever Matt Andriese (1-2) to lead off the sixth.
Andriese was still working when Cedric Mullins led off the eighth with a bloop triple to shallow left. His pop-up twice glanced off the glove off shifted shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and Mullins sneaked into third just ahead of catcher Christian Vázquez’s tag.
Two batters later, Mancini’s sharp single against Boston’s drawn-in infield made it 3-1, and Freddy Galvis’ sacrifice fly later in the inning supplied the Orioles’ final run.
López went a season-high 5 2/3 innings, scattering four hits while striking out five and maintaining control except for a brief sequence in the fourth after yielding J.D. Martinez’s one-out single. Over the course of three pitches, Martinez moved up a base on a hit batsman, a wild pitch and Rafael Devers’ sacrifice fly to tie it at 1.
Ryan Mountcastle lined his third homer down the leftfield line off Boston’s Martin Pérez, who otherwise navigated five innings with little difficulty. He allowed four hits and one run and struck out four.
Mountcastle added a single, giving him consecutive multi-hit games for the first time this season. He has five multi-hit games in his last 10 outings after recording two in his first 25 games in 2021.