Christian Arroyo hit a two-run home run as the visiting Boston Red Sox opened a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles with a 3-1 victory on Friday.
Baltimore was limited to three hits before Ryan Mountcastle homered off Hansel Robles to lead off the ninth inning.
Matt Strahm, who replaced Robles with two outs and a runner at second, walked Anthony Santander before striking out pinch hitter Chris Owings for his first career save.
Rich Hill yielded one hit over four-plus scoreless innings for Boston, which won for just the second time in its last seven games. Tanner Houck (2-1) earned the victory after allowing two hits over three scoreless frames.
Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish (0-1) made a strong major league debut, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out two.
The Orioles, who lost their fifth straight, did not have a baserunner in the first four innings and finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The Red Sox scored all three of their runs in the second inning. Enrique Hernandez hit a leadoff single and scored on Arroyo’s one-out homer to center field.
Jackie Bradley Jr. then singled and scored when Christian Vasquez’s single to right field was misplayed by a charging Trey Mancini. Bradley scored easily when the ball skipped past Mancini and rolled to the wall.
Arroyo’s 408-foot blast snapped Boston’s six-game homerless streak, which marked the team’s longest stretch since April 2001.
Hill retired his first 12 batters faced and departed after yielding Austin Hays’ leadoff single in the fifth.
Baltimore loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh before Houck struck out pinch hitter Rougned Odor on three pitches to end the inning.
Bradish settled in after a shaky second inning and retired the final 10 batters he faced. The 25-year-old threw 81 pitches and recorded just the second quality start by an Orioles pitcher this season.
Arroyo started at designated hitter in place of J.D. Martinez, who has missed six of Boston’s last nine games with left adductor tightness.
–Field Level Media