Orioles Beat Red Sox 6-4 In 13 Miserable Innings

I don't know what else to say other than the Boston Red Sox are once again playing terrible baseball. They lost for the eighth time in their last nine games at Fenway Park as they dropped the series opener 6-4 to the Baltimore Orioles tonight in 13 innings.

Chris Davis (2 hits) had an RBI single and Mark Reynolds pushed another run across in the 13th with a sacrifice fly. Orioles closer Jim Johnson got a 1-2-3 13th for his eighth save of the season.

Boston (11-14, 4-8 home) has lost three straight and it's impossible to have much faith in this group. Conversely, Buck Showalter and Baltimore (17-9, 9-5 away) might finally be onto something. Maybe the Orioles won't finish in fifth place in the AL East this season.

Jon Lester was decent. He lasted six innings, allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and three walks. The Red Sox got their first look at Orioles starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen. He went five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

The Red Sox couldn't hold leads of 3-1 and 4-3 as their bullpen, which has actually been excellent recently, faltered. Vicente Padilla allowed the run that tied it at four and then Franklin Morales (0-1) coughed up two more in the 13th for the loss.

Baltimore won because its bullpen threw a ridiculous eight scoreless innings. Matt Lindstrom (1 inning), Pedro Strop (2 innings), Luis Ayala (2 innings), Troy Patton (2 innings; 1-0) and Johnson were mighty impressive.

Cody Ross scored on a passed ball to give Boston a 1-0 lead in the second but Reynolds (1st of the season) crushed a meatball right down the middle from Lester in the third over The Monster. David Ortiz's ground out scored Adrian Gonzalez (3 hits) in the third and Ross drove in Dustin Pedroia with a sacrifice fly.

Matt Wieters (2 hits, 2 runs) is not known for his speed but Ross misplayed a ball in the right field corner and Baltimore's catcher ended up with an RBI triple in the fourth. Wilson Betemit knocked him in with an RBI single, tying the game at three in the fourth.

Pedroia put Boston ahead one last time in the fifth with an RBI single that scored Will Middlebrooks (double). The O's tied it in the seventh as a run scored even though J.J. Hardy grounded into a double play.

Aaron Cook makes his Red Sox debut tomorrow afternoon (1:10 p.m., NESN) as the veteran sinkerballer looks to get his new team out of their latest fog. Jason Hammel (3-1) goes for the Orioles, who have the AL's worst defense but somehow they've made up for it with the top ERA in the AL.

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