Red Sox Beat Orioles 8-1 In Rain-Shortened Game
BALTIMORE-- Jackie Bradley Jr. and Sandy Leon both hit two-run homers, and David Price threw six strong innings as the Boston Red Sox scored their sixth straight win with a rain-shortened 8-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.
The game was stopped after six innings due to rain and, after a delay of 1 hour, 17 minutes, was called final.
The Red Sox (67-52) moved into second place with this victory, which wrapped up a sweep of the two-game series with the Orioles. They now are one game behind Toronto (69-52), and Baltimore (66-53) slipped back into third place, two games out.
Bradley finished with four RBIs, as he hit his homer in the third and added a two-run double in the sixth. Leon added his two-run homer in the fifth. Mookie Betts went 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
David Ortiz added his 1,496th RBI as a member of the Red Sox with a seventh inning double. If he reaches 1,500, Ortiz would join Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski as the only Boston players to get to that level.
Price (11-8) allowed one run on four hits in the six innings, winning his second straight start. The left-hander struck out four without a walk and is starting to pitch more like early in the season when Price started 7-1 before stumbling.
Baltimore starter Dylan Bundy (6-4) ran into trouble for the first time since his first start. The rookie allowed the two homers and five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the second on a Travis Shaw RBI single. Shaw's hit drove in Bradley, who was hit by a Bundy pitch with one out in the inning.
They almost added to the lead but Baltimore left fielder Hyun Soo Kim made a diving catch of a Dustin Pedroia line drive with two outs and the bases loaded. That catch proved even more important when Davis tied the game with his solo homer in the bottom of the inning.
Boston then used its power to take the lead. Bradley gave the Red Sox a 3-1 lead in the third with his two-run, two-out homer off Bundy.
Leon stretched it to 5-1 in the fifth with his two-run shot, and that ended Bundy's night.
NOTES: RHP Chris Tillman will officially start on Saturday versus Houston. Tillman had been slated to start Wednesday's game but manager Buck Showalter pushed him back to Saturday due to some shoulder issues. The right-hander said before the game that the shoulder is feeling much better. ... OF Joey Rickard's injured thumb will remain in a splint for another two to three weeks after he saw the doctor Wednesday. He'll likely be back to the Orioles at some point in September. ... Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez felt better on Wednesday, manager John Farrell said before the game. Rodriguez started Tuesday's game but left after two pitches in the fifth inning due to hamstring tightness. Farrell said Rodriguez remains in line to start Sunday. ... RHP Steven Wright (shoulder) could get to the mound Saturday in a bullpen session and be ready to come off the disabled list Tuesday, according to Farrell.
