Finally back at .500, the Boston Red Sox squandered their first opportunity at a winning record this season, falling 4-1 Tuesday night to the Baltimore Orioles.
Felix Doubront pitched a solid six innings, striking out nine and giving up just four hits, allowing his only runs on a Steve Tolleson two-run home run in the second inning. Matt Albers gave up another two-run blast to Wilson Betemit in the bottom of the eighth, all but putting the game out of reach with the way the Red Sox were swinging the bats.
The Red Sox bats were silent all game, scoring just one run on a Kevin Youkilis solo shot in his first game back from the disabled list. The only other hit the Red Sox mustered was an Adrian Gonzalez single off Orioles starter Brian Matusz, barely a blip among the 9 Boston batters Matusz sat down with strikeouts. The Red Sox lineup had even worse luck against the suddenly vaunted Baltimore bullpen. Baltimore relievers combined to shut the door for 2.2 hitless innings, including a 1-2-3 top of the ninth on just eight pitches from Orioles closer Jim Johnson.
Thankfully, nearly everything about Wednesday’s game was the polar opposite of the night before, from the Red Sox starter “earning” the win despite a poor performance, to the Red Sox lineup awakening from its slumber to crank out 13 hits. The end result was a 6-5 Red Sox win to rebound from Tuesday night’s disappointing loss and take the rubber match of the three-game series from the first-place Orioles. The Red Sox are now back at .500 with another chance to get on the right side of winning.
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