Chris Sale pitched on a major league mound for the first time since August 13, 2019 on Saturday. His team supplied him with plenty of offense to back his strong 5.0 inning effort as the Boston Red Sox blasted the Baltimore Orioles 16-2 at Fenway Park.
Boston (68-51) never trailed and gave some early run support to the left hander, getting all they needed in the bottom of the first inning. Kike Hernandez scored on a wild pitch by Baltimore starter Jorge Lopez, and Rafael Devers blasted a three-run homerun to right center field to make it 4-0. The Orioles got their two runs off Sale in the third when Austin Hays and Trey Mancini hit back to back solo homers. Leading 7-2 in the fifth inning, the Sox piled on with a seven run outburst. Jarren Duran had an RBI triple, Bobby Dalbec a two-run homerun, Xander Bogaerts an RBI single, and JD Martinez capped it off with a three-run homer to left center. Dalbec added a solo shot in the sixth, and Hunter Renfroe did the same in the eighth.
Sale (1-0) allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts, throwing 89 pitches (60 for strikes). Alex Verdugo had four hits, Bogaerts had three, while Hernandez, Devers, Martinez, and Dalbec had two a piece. Devers drove in four runs, and Martinez along with Dalbec drove in three each. Pedro Severino had two hits for Baltimore, and Lopez (3-13) suffered the pitching loss allowing seven runs on nine hits over just 3.1 innings. The Orioles are now 38-77 and have lost 10 straight games. Boston goes for a much needed three game sweep Sunday afternoon at 1:10, sending Eduardo Rodriguez (8-6, 5.24) to the mound. The Birds counter with Keegan Akin (0-6, 8.23).
