The Red Sox are in the midst of their first losing streak of the season, as they lost their second straight game, 3-2, to the Orioles Thursday night at Fenway Park. The Sox did not get much contribution offensively from the middle through bottom of their lineup as hitters five through nine totaled just two hits, singles from Daniel Nava and Stephen Drew.
Alfredo Aceves made his first start of the season and went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out four, while walking three. He left with the score tied at two.
Clayton Mortensen came in for Aceves and pitched a scoreless sixth, but ran into trouble in the seventh. After allowing a single he was replaced by Andrew Miller who walked the only batter he faced. Koji Uehara came in, but on his first pitch allowed an RBI double to Adam Jones accounting for the third Orioles run, which proved to be the game-winner.
The Orioles bullpen got the job done, combining to throw 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief of starter Chris Tillman.
Boston did not have any extra base hits, finishing with eight singles led by Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli who finished with two apiece.
What they’ll be saying:With the loss the Red Sox lost their first series of 2013. The series looked promising following their win in the Fenway opener and they led most of the way Wednesday night before allowing five runs in the ninth inning. Aceves pitched well in his first spot start of the season, but the Red Sox didn’t get the timely hits they needed. Although the bullpen has suffered losses the past two games it still remains a strength of the team with Uehara, Junichi Tazawa and Andrew Bailey all off to tremendous starts.
Follow Red Sox beat writer Ryan Hannable on Twitter @hannable84.
