The Red Sox fell to the Orioles 4-3 Saturday night despite another double digit strikeout effort from Felix Doubront.
Coming off perhaps his best start of the year, Doubront could not keep the Orioles down for long, but it was more defense that cost him than anything else. His own fielding blunder cost him a one-out baserunner in the second and allowed the Orioles to score an opening run they other wise would not have. In the fourth, too, an error from Mike Aviles gave the Orioles an extra run when Doubront surrendered a homer to Chris Davis to make it 3-0 where it could have been 1-0.
The Red Sox would get back in the game in a hurry, however, thanks to their own two-run shot. Jarrod Saltalamacchia did the honors, picking up bomb number 25 of the season and bringing home Mauro Gomez in the process to make it 3-2. One inning later, and the Sox were manufacturing a run following Jacoby Ellsbury's leadoff single, tying the game up.
The lead did not last long. While Doubront was able to escape the sixth unharmed, he could not get past the first batter of the seventh without giving up the lead. This time it was Manny Machado going deep to left, once again on an outside fastball that somehow ended up hooked with authority.
All-in-all, it was a tremendous effort from Doubront, who finished the night with 10 strikeouts to seven hits and one walk. While he ended up surrendering four runs in seven innings, only three were earned, and it can be argued that only two should be.
Still, in the end it was just too much for a terribly weak Red Sox lineup to overcome. The Orioles bullpen finished the job, and the Red Sox fell once more.
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