BALTIMORE -- Struggling Orioles starter Kevin Gausman was a perfect elixir to a sluggish Boston lineup. The Sox homered three times, including Hanley Ramirez's first of the year, in Sunday afternoon's sweep-avoiding, 6-2 win over Baltimore at Camden Yards.
Boston, which had just two homers total in the previous first five games of its road trip, jumped on Gausman for four runs before he could record an out. Mookie Betts delivered the big three-run blow, with Ramirez following. Mitch Moreland also went deep in the fifth off Gausman, who lasted 5 1/3 innings and saw his season ERA rise to 7.50.

"He wasn't very crisp early and they made him pay for it," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "But I like the fact he didn't implode and got us to the sixth inning and competed like we know Kevin can. There will be better days for him. But their pitcher was real good today. That was obvious."

Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez, a former Orioles farmhand, allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings. The lone single came from Chris Davis in the bottom of the fifth, as Rodriguez was fantastic over the 108-pitch outing, picking up his first win.

Andrew Benintendi went 5-for-5, notching a career-high in hits for Boston.
• Benintendi singles self out in record books
"Everybody talks about how we haven't hit home runs," Benintendi said. "I don't see what the problem is. We're getting on base and scoring runs."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Red Sox retaliate: Orioles third baseman Manny Machado was thrown at by Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes in the bottom of the eighth inning.
"I think it was completely obvious," Davis said of Barnes' pitch. "I haven't seen a guy miss that bad in a while. Behind a guy's head, I don't think there was any question about it."
Machado, whose hard slide Friday forced Dustin Pedroia out of the game, was initially awarded first base and Barnes was immediately ejected by home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher. However, upon closer review, the ball -- up and in -- caught Machado's bat. Pedroia was caught on TV saying to Machado: "I know that, you know that. That's not me." On the next pitch, he lined a double off Joe Kelly.

"That's not how you do that, man. I'm sorry to him and his team. If you're going to protect guys, you do it right away," said Pedroia, who received a text message apology from Machado on Friday.
"It's definitely a mishandled situation. ... There was zero intention of him trying to hurt me. He just made a bad slide. He did hurt me. It's baseball, man. I'm not mad at him. I love Manny Machado." More >

Red Sox Bombers: With only eight home runs on the season entering the series finale, the Red Sox were the only team in baseball still in single digits. That changed on back-to-back pitches in the first inning. The blasts from Betts and Ramirez into the left-field seats were also the first back-to-back homers of the season for Boston.
The Curious Case of Gausman: The righty has had a rocky April and Sunday was no different. Coming off of one of the worst outings of his career -- an eight-out appearance in which he allowed eight earned runs to the Reds --Gausman surrendered a four-run first. The 26-year-old did settle down after that, pitching three scoreless innings before Moreland went deep in the fifth. He has just one quality start in his first five games and has walked 15 and struck out 17 in 24 innings.
QUOTABLE
"It's two good teams competing for something that a lot of teams really want. And they have the passion and when things like that get going into it, that's unfortunate. I was really impressed with the courage that our guys showed today because they all, believe me, trust me, wanted to do something about [Machado being nearly hit]. Takes a lot more sometimes to do that." -- Showalter on if he wanted all of the drama to go away between the two clubs
"He's trying to take a 4-seamer in above the hands and the pitch got away from him. I think anytime you see a pitch above the head, it's a dangerous pitch. No one likes to see it, but I think if you look at the attack plan of our right-handed pitchers, there's an area in above the hands you're trying to go to. Unfortunately, it does get away from him in that spot." -- Red Sox manager John Farrell on Matt Barnes' pitch going high on Machado
FROM THE TRAINING ROOM
Pablo Sandoval left the game with a right knee sprain and is day-to-day.
"We'll certainly get him in tomorrow and evaluate him," Farrell said. "When he went down for the groundball, he felt a little bit of a strain or a stretch inside the right knee. He'll be examined fully [Monday]."
WHAT'S NEXT
Red Sox: After an off-day, Boston will be back home for its first look at the New York Yankees this season. The three-game set opens Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. ET, with Rick Porcello scheduled to meet fellow right-hander Luis Severino. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia will undergo an MRI Monday after missing the last two games with left knee and ankle soreness.
Orioles: The Orioles will welcome the Tampa Bay Rays for a three-game series starting on Monday at 7:05 p.m. ET with Ubaldo Jimenez going to the mound. Jimenez turned in a badly needed quality start, his first of the year, on Wednesday against the Reds. Jimenez tossed 7 2/3 scoreless in a dazzling effort.
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