Game 2 between the Red Sox and Orioles is about to get underway. We'll keep you up-to-date on all the action as it goes down in Fenway Park.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 6, End 11th -- Tommy Hunter gets past Dustin Pedroia and Cody Ross for the Orioles. That's twice the Sox have failed to make use of the best part of their lineup in a potential walkoff situation.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 6, Mid 11th -- The Sox manage to survive a Mark Melancon inning, which is more than can usually be said.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 6, End 10th -- Nohing doing this time, though. The Sox do manage to get two baserunners, but consistent success from the bottom of the lineup is hard to find, and Scott Podsednik strikes out swinging to end the frame.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 6, Mid 10th -- Andrew Bailey gets his three outs inshort order. There's not a ton of quality left in the bullpen after he's done, though--mainly Scott Atchison--so the Sox need to get to work.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 6, End 9th -- The best Boston has to offer go in order, and we're headed to the tenth.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 6, Mid 9th -- Junichi Tazawa works a 1-2-3 ninth with, of course, his customary two strikeouts. Either the Sox will walk off with their 2-through-4 hitting in the ninth, or we'll be headed to extra innings.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 6, End 8th -- And with one out left to them in the eighth, the Red Sox tie it up. The rally takes just two at bats, with Daniel Nava starting it off with a double off Pedro Strop, and Scott Podsednik finishing it with another, though his is thanks to some dodgy defense by Nate McLouth at the wall. Just like that, it's 6-6.
Orioles 6, Red Sox 5, Mid 8th -- The Orioles can't respond to Boston's rally, leaving their cushion thin as Craig Breslow enjoys a 1-2-3 eighth.
Orioles 6, Red Sox 5, End 7th -- The Orioles do their best to give the lead away, but the Sox don't manage to take full advantage. After a Scott Podsednik double, Pedro Ciriaco draws a rare walk, and then two Orioles come together at second base trying to record a double play on a Dustin Pedroia ground ball. They get in eachother's way, and get nothing instead, allowing the bases to be loaded. A couple of ground balls is all they manage, though, bringing in a pair of runs from third with the Sox at least managing to stay out of double plays.
Orioles 6, Red Sox 3, Mid 7th -- Clayton Mortensen gives up a huge shot to Adam Jones to start the inning, putting the Orioles up by three even if he does manage to strike out the side around a couple walks (one intentional) afterwards.
Orioles 5, Red Sox 3, End 6th -- Jake Arrieta replaces Randy Wolf on the mound and keeps the Sox in check with a 1-2-3 seventh--exactly what a team that's just taken the lead needs.
Orioles 5, Red Sox 3, Mid 6th -- Aaron Cook runs out of gas with one out in the inning, surrendering a single and double to Chris Davis and Manny Machado, putting two men in scoring position. The Sox call on Rich Hill to save the tie, but he can't get the job done, allowing a long fly ball to Ryan Flaherty that gets all the way to the center field wall for a two-run triple. While Clayton Mortensen manages to keep Flaherty from scoring, the damage is already done.
Red Sox 3, Orioles 3, End 5th -- Randy Wolf has no such problem, with the middle of Boston's lineup going down 1-2-3.
Red Sox 3, Orioles 3, Mid 5th -- Aaron Cook still can't get through a completely clean inning, with a ground rule double stopping him one out away.
Red Sox 3, Orioles 3, End 4th -- With Mike Aviles already on base, Danny Valencia makes Mark Reynold's bomb look like child's play, taking a hanging curveball and clearing the Monster by a mile. That's one fly ball, and one Orioles lead, both gone.
Orioles 3, Red Sox 1, Mid 4th -- A sinker left belt-high and inside to Mark Reynolds is a recipe for disaster, and sure enough the Orioles infielder takes full advantage, blasting a long fly ball off the Triple-A sign over the Monster seats to make it 3-1, Orioles.
Orioles 2, Red Sox 1, End 3rd -- The Red Sox threaten, and would've scored had Pedro Ciriaco not been caught stealing after a leadoff single. A walk and an error from Manny Machado manage to put two more runners on for the Red Sox, but nobody manages to come across thanks to the wasted opportunity from Ciriaco.
Orioles 2, Red Sox 1, Mid 3rd -- Aaron Cook is much more true-to-form this time. One single erased by the double play ball that follows it, courtesy of a nice bit of defense from Dustin Pedroia, who steps on second and then makes a leaping throw to first to turn two.
Orioles 2, Red Sox 1, End 2nd -- Randy Wolf has a relatively easy time of things in the second. While he offers up a walk to Daniel Nava, it comes in front of Scott Podsednik, who grounds out to second to make it a scoreless inning of work for Wolf.
Orioles 2, Red Sox 1, Mid 2nd -- The Sox are back behind, but they can consider themselves lucky that it's just by one. After a Chris Davis single, Aaron Cook let him make his way to second by throwing the ball away trying to keep Davis--he of the one steal in four attempts--close at first. Manny Machado singles up the middle, and with Scott Podsednik practically rolling the ball home, the run came in to score. The Orioles would end up drawing another walk, but stranded both runners to keep the lead to just one.
Red Sox 1, Orioles 1, End 1st -- The Sox respond immediately to tie the game in the bottom of the first. Dustin Pedroia, who finally broke out of a long slump last night, keeps his momentum going by dropping a ground rule double into right field and then the stands. Cody Ross can only fly out to left, but Ryan Lavarnway comes through in the cleanup spot, knocking a base hit to right to score the run from second.
Orioles 1, Red Sox 0, Mid 1st -- Not a good sign for Aaron Cook: the leadoff walk. As a guy who relies on control and ground balls, giving up a free pass to Nate McLouth is not exactly high on the man's agenda. Unfortunately, that's how the game does start, and McLouth quickly steals second, is moved to third with a ground ball, and then brought home with another to give the Orioles the early lead.