Following their most potent offensive performance of the season, the Boston Red Sox will aim for a weekend series win while concluding a six-game trip on Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles.
While the first four games of the trip — three vs. Tampa Bay and Friday’s series opener in Baltimore — didn’t go their way, the Red Sox bounced back for a 17-4 Saturday win in which they set season-high marks in runs and hits (21).
Rafael Devers set the tone with a first-inning grand slam as eight Red Sox finished with multiple hits. Christian Arroyo had two, including a home run in the fifth inning, in addition to driving in three runs.
“(Orioles starter Jordan Lyles) has been consistent all year, so to get on him early was huge,” Arroyo told NESN. “(Camden Yards is) definitely a bigger ballpark and plays completely different now, but I was just trying to see a pitch over the plate and put a good swing on it.”
The Red Sox (68-72) had scored nine runs in their previous four games, all losses. Baltimore (73-66) has lost five of its last seven.
“When we do our thing, when we are disciplined, we are that team,” manager Alex Cora said. “But we haven’t been consistent. … There are days like that when we’re really good.”
Outfielder Tommy Pham is considered day-to-day after leaving Saturday’s game with a left-shin contusion.
Boston will send Rich Hill (6-6, 4.79 ERA) to the mound on Sunday after he gave up five runs on nine hits in four innings in a loss at Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
“I take a lot of pride in going out there and putting us in a position to win, and I didn’t do that (on Tuesday),” Hill said. “So it’s tough. This one hurts a lot.”
Hill will look to bounce back against a squad he has handled well. He is 3-1 with a 3.15 ERA in 17 career appearances against Baltimore.
The southpaw’s first and only career loss to the Orioles came in his May 30 start in Boston, but he has allowed just one run on three hits in 10 innings over his last two starts at Camden Yards.
Orioles rookie right-hander Kyle Bradish (3-5, 5.30) has won two of his three starts since losing to the Red Sox on Aug. 20, though he lasted just three innings and allowed three runs — two on a Bo Bichette home run — on six hits in a no-decision against Toronto on Tuesday.
“I feel like I was throwing well, my velo was up, my slider was working,” Bradish said. “But that’s a good team.”
Bradish had a career-long streak of 16 scoreless innings snapped during his last start. He previously pitched two-hit, shutout ball for seven innings against Cleveland and eight against Houston.
Since returning from the injured list on July 29, Bradish has a 3.09 ERA in 42 2/3 innings and hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his eight starts.
Bradish is 0-2 with a 7.43 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox this season.
Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins has five hits in the series, including a homer on Saturday.
“Tomorrow, if we win, we take the series and won’t think about all the runs we gave up tonight,” Lyles said. “It was a bad loss, but it only counts for one.”
–Field Level Media