Kevin Gausman allows six runs as O's fall at Boston

Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman has had a solid year, but he had a bad night in Boston. Gausman allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings tonight as the Orioles lost 6-4 at Fenway Park. It was his shortest outing of the season and the most runs he's given up in 11 starts this year.

The O's and Red Sox have split the first two games of the series and once again have identical records. They are 37-27 and tied for the American League East lead.

Boston took an early 1-0 on Travis Shaw's second-inning double, then batted nine men in a five-run third inning to open a 6-0 lead. That frame featured RBI singles by Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz, as well as the swing that turned the game into an early blowout - a Hanley Ramirez three-run homer.

In that inning, a play that Gausman failed to make loomed large. With two men on and none out, Bogaerts hit a ball up the middle that deflected off Gausman's glove and went for an infield hit that scored a run. If the ball had been fielded cleanly, it might have turned into a 1-6-3 double play and maybe Boston doesn't get a five-spot.

Down 6-0 in the seventh against league ERA leader Steven Wright, Adam Jones hit a two-run homer to make it a 6-2 game. For Jones, who hit a 75 mph knuckler, it was dinger No. 12. It was also his third round-tripper in three games and his seventh in his last 13 games.

An inning later, the Orioles pulled within 6-4 on a Matt Wieters RBI double and a Jonathan Schoop RBI single, but it wasn't enough.

Wright got the win, allowing three runs over 7 1/3 innings and is 8-4 with an ERA of 2.22.

The Orioles' streak of hitting two or more homers in a game ended at five contests tonight. Still, Baltimore has smacked 15 longballs in the six games of this road trip and 33 in the last 13 games. Jones' homer also ended Wright's run of 23 straight innings without allowing an earned run.

Right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne made his Orioles debut tonight, pitching in relief of Gausman. Over 2 2/3 scoreless innings, he allowed three hits with two walks and no strikeouts on 47 pitches.

The Orioles are now 5-4 versus Boston, 13-15 on the road and 2-4 on this current road trip which ends on Thursday night in the series finale. Tyler Wilson (2-5, 4.73 ERA) faces southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez (1-1, 6.06 ERA), a former O's farmhand.