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A TEAM THAT COULDN'T
April 23, 2017 ... The Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2, getting a strong start from Eduardo Rodriguez and a long-awaited show of power with three home runs. Salvaging the final game of the series and ending their road trip successfully before a day off should have been enough during a sunny day at Camden Yards. But the eighth inning changed all that. In what appeared to be a poorly handled attempt at retaliation, reliever Matt Barnes threw a pitch behind the head of Baltimore star Manny Machado and was ejected. Machado slid hard into Pedroia on Friday night, injuring the second baseman's leg to a point where he has not played since. Pedroia was angry about the slide but did not want to see a dangerous pitch thrown to Machado. With the Sox up, 6-0, Barnes threw a pitch near the brim of Machado's helmet that veered into his bat for a foul ball. Plate umpire Andy Fletcher ejected Barnes for what he deemed was intent to hit Machado. Major League Baseball later suspended Barnes for four games. Television cameras caught Pedroia telling Machado from across the field that it wasn't his idea. Machado doubled in a run off Joe Kelly when his at-bat continued. The ruckus took attention away from Rodriguez, who threw six shutout innings. He allowed one hit, walked five, and struck out seven. Rodriguez (1-1) has a 1.34 earned run average in six starts at Camden Yards. The Orioles traded the lefthander to the Sox in 2014. Rodriguez retired the first nine hitters in order, four by strikeout. He walked Craig Gentry to open the bottom of the fourth but set down the Orioles from there, striking out Mark Trumbo looking at a slider to end the inning. He did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and left the bases loaded in the sixth before coming out after 108 pitches. The Red Sox scored two runs in the first two games of the series. They doubled that in the first inning against Orioles starter Kevin Gausman. Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi started the game with singles. Mookie Betts hit the first pitch he saw into the seats in left field. Betts is 29 of 92 (.315) in 24 career games at Camden Yards with 10 home runs and 19 RBIs. Hanley Ramirez followed with a home run to left field, also on the first pitch. It was his first of the season. Mitch Moreland's home run to right field made it 5-0 in the fifth inning. Gausman had allowed one home run in 18⅔ innings this season. Benintendi had an RBI single in the sixth inning. He was 5 for 5 after getting Saturday off. At 22, Benintendi is the youngest Red Sox player with five hits in a game since Tony Conigliaro on April 16, 1967, against the Yankees in New York. |
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