The Baltimore Orioles swept their American League East rival the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and now have a season-high four game winning streak.
In game one of the series, a contest where hits were hard to come by, it was a wild pitch that scored the only run of the game in a 1-0 Baltimore (29-30) victory. The game was a pitchers duel until the 7th inning when Oriole Steve Pearce led off with a double.
Shortstop J.J. Hardy singled and Baltimore had runners at first and third with no outs. Boston (27-34) reliever Matt Barnes then unleashed the wild pitch that was the difference in the game. Each team only collected five hits.
Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez left the game in the fourth inning with a thigh injury and was later placed on the disabled list. He allowed four hits, while walking two and striking out one.
The bullpen picked up the slack with closer Zach Britton entering the game in the eighth inning to record a five-out save which included two strikeouts as he earned his 16th save of the year.
In the middle game of the three game series, a 5-2 Baltimore win, Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones had three defensive gems as he dove head-first to make one catch and leaped into the air to snag another potential big hit for Boston. When he was not robbing hits he was throwing runners out at second as he and left fielder Travis Snider both recorded put outs at second which silenced potential Red Sox rallies.
Shortstop Hardy provided the offense and was 1-3 including a double and two RBIs. It was his sacrifice fly in the sixth inning that gave the Birds an important late insurance run.
Reliever Tommy Hunter hurled two shut out innings and it was fellow reliever Darren O’Day who came in to record a two-inning save, his second of the year.
Starter Wei-Yin Chen surrendered seven hits, struck out five and walked one while giving up two runs and improved to (2-4) while winning his first home game this season. He now has a 3.21 ERA.
The series finale, a 6-5 Baltimore victory, was powered by homers from Jones (10) Manny Machado (10) and a returning Oriole, Nolan Reimold (1) who is back with the Birds. It was his first homer in an Orioles uniform since July 2013.
Starter Chris Tillman, who after a slow start has won two straight, was given a 4-0 lead after three innings but Boston rallied for three in the fourth to make the game interesting.
With the game 5-4 in the sixth, the O’s added an insurance run in the seventh inning to take a 6-4 lead. Boston slugger David Ortiz hit a solo homer to pull the Red Sox within one but that was as close as they would get.
Tillman (4-7) allowed five hits and four runs while walking and striking out two Boston batters in five and 2/3 innings of work.
Closer Britton came in to record his 17th save of the year and now boasts a 1.75 ERA.
