The Orioles have played better baseball over the last few weeks, but they laid an egg tonight. Chris Bassitt labored through three innings before leaving with a possible injury, and the Red Sox broke the game open with a five-run fifth. Baltimore dropped the game 8-1 at Fenway Park.<\/p>\n
This was the type of game that the Orioles should just flush and put behind them. The immediate attention will turn to Bassitt and any potential injury. The starter allowed a run on a single by Wilyer Abreu<\/a> in the first inning, and would have allowed another if Taylor Ward<\/a> hadn\u2019t thrown out Abreu at the plate on a double by Wilson Contreras.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Bassitt retired the side in order in the second, but the Red Sox wore him out in the third. The 37-year-old picked up a pair of outs after a leadoff single, but Abreu pulled a two-run homer down the left field line. The Red Sox then proceeded to load the bases on a single and a pair of walks, but Bassitt got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground out to keep the deficit at three.<\/p>\n Bassitt had only thrown 56 pitches, but Albert Su\u00e1rez<\/a> entered in the fourth inning. Su\u00e1rez struck out Abreu to leave runners on the corners, but he ran into some serious trouble in the fifth. Contreras got the rally started with a leadoff double, and Su\u00e1rez walked Masataka Yoshida<\/a>\u00a0to place two on with nobody out.<\/p>\n Su\u00e1rez generated what should have been a harmless fly ball for out number one, but Blaze Alexander<\/a> never saw the ball in center field. The ball eventually found the grass, and both runners came around to score. Kiner-Falefa followed with a double off the green monster, and the game quickly fell out of reach. Boston added its seventh and eighth runs on a double by Caleb Durbin<\/a> and a single by Ceddanne Rafaela<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alexander has less than 10 major league starts in center field, but the Orioles felt comfortable sending him out to play a difficult center field at Fenway tonight. To be fair, Boston shortstop Marcelo Mayer<\/a> lost a ball in the sky just one inning prior.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Su\u00e1rez allowed five runs in two innings. We\u2019ll now wait to see if the Orioles designate the veteran reliever for assignment for the umpteenth time. Su\u00e1rez threw 53 pitches, but he could be saved if the Orioles place Bassitt on the injured list. Trey Gibson tossed 6.1 innings at Norfolk earlier today, so he would be on regular rest if the Orioles need him for Bassitt\u2019s next turn in the rotation.<\/p>\n The Orioles wasted some early opportunities before the game was fully out of reach. Taylor Ward walked and Adley Rutschman<\/a> singled in the first, but Rutschman was thrown out on a double steal attempt. Pete Alonso<\/a> struck out swinging to end the inning with Ward at third base.<\/p>\n Jackson Holliday<\/a> and Ward both singled in the third, but Gunnar Henderson<\/a> and Rutschman came up short with runners in scoring position. Boston gave Baltimore an extra out when Mayer failed to catch a pop fly in the fourth, but Rutschman flew out to leave runners on second and third.<\/p>\n Rutschman eventually drove in Baltimore\u2019s only run with a stand-up triple in the seventh.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Anthony Nunez<\/a> tossed two scoreless innings and Grant Wolfram<\/a> kept the Sox off the board in the eighth.<\/p>\n