Kendrick leads Red Sox to shutout of Orioles
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox came out swinging against veteran right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez and rode their pitching the rest of the way en route to a 4-0 victory over the Orioles on Friday night at JetBlue Park.
Chris Young and the Red Sox's No. 4 prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com, Sam Travis both had RBI singles in a three-run bottom of the first.
Aneury Tavarez, the O's No. 24 prospect, went 3-for-3 from the leadoff spot, accounting for half of Baltimore's hits.
Kyle Kendrick turned in a second straight strong performance for the Red Sox, firing four shutout innings. The righty scattered four hits and walked two while also striking out two, and his Grapefruit League ERA is now 2.08.
"I just want to be aggressive and throw strikes and be around the strike zone and throw strikes with all my pitches and make sure the ball is moving how it should and how I'm used to it," said Kendrick.
Joe Kelly continued his strong camp in the Red Sox bullpen with a scoreless fifth inning, working around a hit and striking out one.
Jimenez, in line to be Baltimore's No. 5 starter, gave up four hits and four runs (three earned) -- three of which came in the first inning -- in three-plus innings. He walked two and struck out three.
"I didn't have my breaking ball, and the sinker was up in the zone [in the first inning]," Jimenez said. "They told me I was rushing a little bit, my mechanics were a little bit too fast. Then in the second, I was able to get it back."
Orioles Up Next: Baltimore hosts the Pirates on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET on MLB.TV. Right-hander Mike Wright is scheduled to make his third Grapefruit League start. In five innings this spring, he has allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
Red Sox Up Next: Boston will split up on Saturday, with one squad staying home to face the Rays and the other taking a short bus ride across Fort Myers to play the Twins. Both games start at 1:05 p.m. ET and can be seen on MLB.TV. Left-hander Chris Sale will pitch at JetBlue Park in his first home start for his new team, while Henry Owens will face Minnesota on the road. Dustin Pedroia, Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez will be in the lineup for the home game. Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. will start on the road.
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