Costly Inning Gives Orioles 6-2 Loss Over Red Sox

In the first of four games between the Red Sox and Orioles at Camden Yards, Boston had a big fourth inning that would ultimately be enough to win the first matchup on Friday night. What went wrong for the Orioles in this game?

After a 95-minute rain delay, the Orioles finally began Friday night’s game at 8:40 p.m. EST after a scheduled 7:05 p.m. start.

Matt Harvey was not steam-rolling through the Boston lineup, but he managed to keep the game scoreless through the first three innings. Then chaos erupted in the fourth inning.

Harvey had a runner on third with two outs before Hunter Renfroe had an RBI single to get the first run on the board. Harvey then walked the next batter before allowing a three-run home run to Bobby Dalbec to make the score 4-0.

Baltimore’s offense had plenty of chances to score, as they left 10 men on base. They only managed to get two runs across with Trey Mancini’s RBI single in the fifth and Ryan Mountcastle’s solo home run in the sixth.

The Orioles will be looking to even the series Saturday night but will need to capitalize on getting baserunners across the plate. Besides Harvey’s costly mistake in the fourth allowing the three-run home run, the pitching never managed to let Boston pull ahead to the point where the game was out of reach for the Orioles.

Zac Lowther will make his first big league start on Saturday and will make his first appearance since his major league debut on April 25 against Oakland. Although it is unknown if he will serve as just an extended opener or be allowed to pitch as many innings as he can, it will be a challenging first start for the young 25-year old.

Garrett Richards will take the mound for Boston, who had a no-decision in his last start on May 2 against Texas.

Saturday night’s game is set for a 7:05 p.m. EST first pitch from Camden Yards in Baltimore, Md.