Orioles power their way to sweep of Red Sox
BALTIMORE -- The Orioles homered three times in Thursday's 6-5 win to complete a sweep of the Red Sox and pick up their first four-game winning streak of the season -- and first three-game sweep at Oriole Park at Camden Yards since Sept. 15-17, 2014, against Toronto. Baltimore has now won six of its last seven games.
"Getting this little roll on, playing good baseball, it's just the main thing as long as you get in a little groove," said Manny Machado, who hit one of the Orioles' three home runs. "It's a long season ahead of us, but hopefully we keep riding this wave."
Video: BOS@BAL: Machado drills solo shot to extend the lead
Adam Jones, Nolan Reimold and Machado each hit solo homers as Baltimore got to Red Sox starter Wade Miley for five runs. The Boston starter lasted just four innings, giving up nine hits and striking out three. In two appearances against the Orioles this season, Miley has given up 12 runs on 14 hits in 6 1/3 innings.
The Orioles led 4-0 after three innings, but the Red Sox scored three runs off starter Chris Tillman in the fourth. The Orioles' right-hander allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Video: BOS@BAL: Napoli gives Red Sox first run with sac fly
Brad Brach and Chaz Roe bridged the gap to the ninth inning, but not before David Ortiz made it 6-5 in the eighth with a home run.
Zach Britton shut down Boston in the ninth to secure the win and pick up his 17th save of the season. The Orioles' bullpen, which is down a man due to the Brian Matusz suspension, gave up just one run over 12 innings in the three games against the Red Sox.
"I think for any team, especially us, we just want to get rolling," said Brach. "Because when your bullpen is shutdown you are going to win games. It is pretty evident in baseball. It's the way it goes. If you have guys that can get outs from the seventh to the ninth, you're gonna win a lot of games."
Video: BOS@BAL: Britton fans Pedroia to earn the save
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Homer-happy home team: The Orioles hit three home runs in the first four innings off of Miley, all of which were solo shots. Jones got it started in the first with a two-out home run to left. Reimold hit his first home run of the season, and first since Aug. 31, 2014, on a liner to center off a 2-2 pitch in the third. It was Reimold's first home run with the Orioles since July 10, 2013. Machado joined the party in the fourth inning with a two-out home run to left on a 1-1 pitch for his 10th of the year to give the Orioles a 5-3 lead. More >
"I don't think I was thinking, it was just happening," Reimold said. "But I was soaking it up. I was enjoying it. It was fun to be back out there in Camden and playing for the Orioles again."
Video: BOS@BAL: Reimold smacks solo shot to extend the lead
Miley struggles, then clashes with Farrell: On a humid night in Baltimore, Miley struggled to keep the ball in the park. Miley allowed a season-high three homers in just the first four innings. Frustrations boiled over when manager John Farrell pulled him from the game, prompting a heated exchange in the middle of the dugout. Miley, who allowed five runs on nine hits, walked away, but Farrell followed him into the tunnel leading to the clubhouse to continue the conversation. More >
"I felt pretty good," Miley said. "It was just a situation where I was just a pitch away and I didn't execute."
Video: BOS@BAL: Miley, Farrell have a heated discussion
Ortiz falters early, then homers: The Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but Ortiz popped out to shallow left, keeping Boston scoreless. Mike Napoli followed with a sacrifice fly and Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run double that cut the Orioles' lead to 4-3. The Red Sox scored more runs that inning than the previous two games combined. Ortiz later homered in the eighth to pull Boston to within a run. It was his first home run in 69 at-bats. It was some redemption for Ortiz, who was held out of the starting lineup the previous day against Baltimore lefty Wei-Yin Chen.
"Against right-handers, he's having a strong year," Farrell said. "Today was another day in that production so far."
Video: BOS@BAL: Ortiz crushes a solo shot to cut the lead
Tillman goes 5 2/3 innings: Despite retiring his first nine batters, Tillman only lasted 5 2/3 innings on Thursday. The right-hander ran into trouble in the fourth when he allowed three of his five hits for three runs. Tillman was pulled with two outs in the sixth before Brach finished the inning.
"It was OK. It could have been better," Tillman said. "It could have been worse. I made some good pitches to get out of some trouble. You'd like, first of all, not to be in trouble, but I think we were able to throw the fastball enough and mix in just enough offspeed stuff to keep us in that game."
Video: BOS@BAL: Tillman fans Ortiz to start off the frame
QUOTABLE
"He's a competitor. You work four days for your start and he doesn't want to come out of the ballgame. I fully respect that. I thought he had good stuff overall, but where we were on the scoreboard, I felt like we needed a change of contrast and a change of style and I made a move after four innings." -- Farrell, on his argument with Miley and the decision to take him out
REPLAY REVIEW
The Red Sox managed to extend the game in the ninth when Blake Swihart was initially called out at first on a grounder to Machado. However, Farrell challenged the call and it was overturned after a 51-second review. Britton then struck out Dustin Pedroia to end the game.
Video: BOS@BAL: Swihart is safe at first after challenge
WHAT'S NEXT
Red Sox: Right-hander Joe Kelly (2-4, 5.40 ERA) gets the start on Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET, and will look to quiet the surging Blue Jays, who have won eight consecutive games and should be rested after enjoying an off-day. Kelly, however, has struggled against Toronto this season, going 0-1 with an 8.49 ERA (11 earned runs over 11 2/3 innings pitched) in two starts. Kelly did snap a career-high nine-start winless streak by beating Oakland on Saturday.
Orioles: The Orioles will look to close in on the first-place Yankees with Ubaldo Jimenez (3-3, 3.02 ERA) on the mound on Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET. The right-hander has received a no-decision in his last four starts, and hasn't won since May 11. In his last start, Jimenez lasted five innings while giving up one run on six hits with five strikeouts and a season-high six walks against the Indians.
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