Unlike Opening Day, the weather at Camden Yards did not play a role in stifling the Red Sox offense during game two. With a warmer game time temperature and little wind to interfere with the flight of the ball, the home run shots left the field as expected.
The first 6 runs of the game all came via the long ball. Ortiz started off the scoring by driving a 1-1 fastball to right field. Since Pedroia was on base with one of his 4 singles of the evening, Boston went up 2-0 at the top of the third.
The Orioles would deadlock the score in the fourth off a two run, two out shot by Nelson Cruz. I'm sure I wasn't the only Red Sox fan who saw that home run coming after Lackey didn't get the call on a Chris Davis check swing which extended the inning. This was Cruz' second homer in two games for the Orioles. As of now, the Orioles appear to be getting quite the bargain with Cruz' $8 million contract.
The Orioles would deadlock the score in the fourth off a two run, two out shot by Nelson Cruz. I'm sure I wasn't the only Red Sox fan who saw that home run coming after Lackey didn't get the call on a Chris Davis check swing which extended the inning. This was Cruz' second homer in two games for the Orioles. As of now, the Orioles appear to be getting quite the bargain with Cruz' $8 million contract.
In the 5th the Red Sox would take back the lead on another long ball. This time the two run blast would come off the bat of Mike Napoli who would drive in Daniel Nava for his first run of the game. Two innings later Napoli would get RBI numbers 3 and 4 when he drove in Nava and Pedroia with a single.
Although he didn't factor into the scoring, Xander Boegarts did have some quality at bats. He finished 1-2 with 2 walks. His 7 pitch walk in the 4th showed a lot of patience as it came after going down 1-2.
Lackey once again had the Orioles number for most of the night. He went 6 innings giving up only 3 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs. Had one call gone a little differently his line may have looked even better. Lackey and Jiminez matched strikeouts with 6 each.
Each reliever that the Red Sox brought in tonight (Mujica, Tazawa and Uehara) earned 1 strikeout and gave up 1 hit over the course of 1 inning of work.
Uehara made the 9th a little more interesting than we'd like to see. After having a runner reach base after a Napoli fielding error, Uehara was charged with a wild pitch which allowed the runner to advance to second. He then gave up a single to put runners on the corners. It is worth noting that the single Uehara gave up could have easily scored a run and turned into some momentum for the Orioles if not for some great defense and maturity by Boegarts. After making a great play to stop the ball in the infield, Boegarts could have tried to play hero and thrown the ball to first. Instead he held onto it and let Uehara get the final out from the next batter.
Although he didn't factor into the scoring, Xander Boegarts did have some quality at bats. He finished 1-2 with 2 walks. His 7 pitch walk in the 4th showed a lot of patience as it came after going down 1-2.
Lackey once again had the Orioles number for most of the night. He went 6 innings giving up only 3 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs. Had one call gone a little differently his line may have looked even better. Lackey and Jiminez matched strikeouts with 6 each.
Each reliever that the Red Sox brought in tonight (Mujica, Tazawa and Uehara) earned 1 strikeout and gave up 1 hit over the course of 1 inning of work.
Uehara made the 9th a little more interesting than we'd like to see. After having a runner reach base after a Napoli fielding error, Uehara was charged with a wild pitch which allowed the runner to advance to second. He then gave up a single to put runners on the corners. It is worth noting that the single Uehara gave up could have easily scored a run and turned into some momentum for the Orioles if not for some great defense and maturity by Boegarts. After making a great play to stop the ball in the infield, Boegarts could have tried to play hero and thrown the ball to first. Instead he held onto it and let Uehara get the final out from the next batter.
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