Chris Sale gave up three runs in the sixth inning Tuesday night before being pulled, as he lost his first game since his return as the Boston Red Sox were beaten 4-2 by the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
Sale had only given up one hit through five innings, and Kyle Schwarber and Hunter Renfoe had given Boston (88-69) a 2-0 lead with solo homeruns in the second and sixth inning respectively. Kelvin Gutierrez led off the home half of the sixth with a single off Sale, and then with one out Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run homerun to tie the game. Austin Hays then singled to end the night for the left hander on the mound. Trey Mancini and Pedro Severino greeted reliever Hansel Robles with singles with the go ahead run charged to Sale and it was 3-2 O’s. Ryan McKenna added an RBI single in the eighth, and the Sox went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning to end it.
Sale (5-1) allowed the three earned run on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 5.1 innings in the defeat. Renfroe had two of the three hits on the night for Boston. Severino had three hits for Baltimore (51-106) and Marcos Diplan (2-0) won in relief of starter Bruce Zimmermann. Cole Sulser picked up his eighth save. The Red Sox still hold the second wild card, now two games behind that first spot that is held by the Yankees. The Blue Jays sit 1/2 back of Boston, while the Mariners are one game back. Game two of the series in Baltimore Wednesday night features Nathan Eovaldi (10-9, 3.88 ERA) against Zac Lowther (1-2, 7.66) as the pitching matchup.
