Orioles rally for 10 runs in final three innings in 12-8 win (updated)

BOSTON – The major league education of Orioles rookie Kyle Bradish was bound to bring some hard lessons. No matter how much he earned his promotion. No matter how many Triple-A batters couldn’t touch him.

There’s no substitute for pitching in the American League East. Just as it's hard to match the thrill of a completed rally against one of its hottest teams.

Four of Bradish’s six starts have come within the division, and what’s supposed to constitute a break of sorts are games against the first-place Twins and the Cardinals in St. Louis.

The Red Sox saw Bradish for a second time tonight and handled him in an aggressive manner, scoring six runs in 1 2/3 innings. But the Orioles also showed him the value in pitching for a team that won’t let up. That stays engaged in the dugout and treats deficits like minor inconveniences.

The Orioles scored three runs in the seventh and eighth innings to tie the game and four more in the ninth to post a stunning 12-8 win at Fenway Park - their 11th comeback win of the year.

Nine batters came to the plate in the ninth, when the Orioles collected five hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly.

"Everyone here has a positive mindset," outfielder Anthony Santander said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. "We can be down 30-0 and we're still staying positive, still staying in it, trying to compete and comeback every time we have a chance to win a ballgame." 

Cedric Mullins singled off Matt Strahm, raced to third base on Trey Mancini’s single into left and scored the go-ahead run on Santander’s single to right. Hirokazu Sawamura walked Austin Hays, and a wild pitch expanded the lead.

Ryan Mountcastle had a sacrifice fly and Rougned Odor an RBI single, and the Orioles improved to 19-27. The Red Sox had won eight of their last 10 games.

"We got down early, by a lot, to the hottest-hitting team in the game and continued to scratch back," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Our at-bats the last third of the game were absolutely outstanding."

This is the Orioles' first win while allowing eight or more runs and 14 or more hits since June 4, 2019 in Texas.

"We've hit bullpen arms well all season, even dating back to the beginning of the year," Hays said. "We were doing a lot of our damage late in games. I don't really know why that is or what that comes from. I think it's just the mindset, never stopping, never thinking we're out of the game, just continuing to have quality at-bats all the way through. And then our pitching once again, they gave up some runs early, but they kept it there, they minimized the damage and we kept chipping away and were there at the end of the game. They gave us a chance and that's all we can ask for."

Shortstop Jorge Mateo was in a 2-for-34 slump, including a strikeout and double play tonight, before hitting a three-run homer off reliever Jake Diekman in the seventh inning that reduced the lead to 8-5. Hays lined a two-run shot off John Schreiber in the eighth, the ball striking an ad sign above the Green Monster, Odor greeted Strahm with a ground-rule double, and he scored the tying run when Rafael Devers backhanded Ramón Urías’ slow roller and threw wide of first base.

Bradish threw 40 pitches in a four-run first that included Xander Bogaerts’ three-run homer, a hit batter and two errors. He retired the first two batters in the second, loaded the bases and ran the count full to Alex Verdugo, whose ground-rule double sent the rookie to the bench.

Teammates made sure he wasn't carrying a loss.

"It means everything," Bradish said. "These guys are grinders out there. We're showing we can hang with the best of them. I put us in a hole early and bullpen picked me up, and then the bats came alive later in the game."

"He still doesn't have that many starts," Hays said. "That's a tough lineup over there. They've got a lot of guys who are hitting the ball really well right now. He saw them at home not that long ago and they made some adjustments to what he was doing at home, and now we're just in that ebb and flow of a game of adjustments. He's going to come back, he's probably going to face them again this year, and it will just be his time to get after them."

The teams are playing five games within four days, a product of the early postponements caused by the lockout. The Orioles could have used more length from Bradish, a lot more, but it just wasn’t his night.

The shortest start of Bradish’s career contained six runs and six hits, one walk and two hit batters. He threw 62 pitches, only 33 for strikes.

Asked about his command, Bradish replied, "Definitely was not there. Was behind basically every hitter, didn't really throw anything for strikes, and when they were strikes they were just over the middle of the plate."

Kiké Hernandez led off the first with a single and scored when Devers singled into left-center field and Santander booted the ball while chasing it.

Bradish nailed J.D. Martinez with a 94.4 mph fastball and Bogaerts homered on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, a 423-foot shot off the National Car Rental sign in left - the exit velocity at 112 mph.

Verdugo singled and Trevor Story lined to Mateo, who threw the ball past Mountcastle while trying for the double play. Bradish struck out the next two batters and seemed to settle down until Martinez walked in the second and Bogaerts was hit.

Verdugo lost a third RBI when his ball hopped the short fence at the triangle in center. Beau Sulser made his Orioles debut and stranded two runners.

Bradish has allowed 15 runs and 19 hits in his last three starts over 11 1/3 innings to raise his ERA to 7.31.

"I just thought Bradish's command wasn't there tonight," Hyde said. "A lot of fastball up misses, kind of hung a bad slider to Bogaerts. Just didn't have command of any of his pitches tonight, and hopefully it's a learning experience for him and he'll bounce back from it."

The Orioles didn’t have a baserunner against Garrett Whitlock until Mancini walked with one out in the fourth. They didn’t score until the next batter, Santander, hit a two-run homer to reduce the lead to 6-2.

Santander has hit eight home runs this season, tonight’s ball traveling 419 feet to right.

"I'm really happy I was able to hit the home run," Santander said. "A little bit here and there starts adding up little by little to where we finally tied the game and were ultimately able to win it."

Hays and Mountcastle singled, but Whitlock struck out Odor.

Odor singled in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games.

Back-to-back doubles by Devers and Martinez in the fourth increased the lead to 7-2, and the Red Sox scored again in the fifth on Franchy Cordero’s leadoff double and a ground ball by Christian Vázquez that deflected off Odor’s glove as he made a diving attempt and rolled into shallow right field.

They were cruising until the wheels came off.

"I think we're just not giving at-bats away," Hays said. "When their pitchers are leaving stuff over the heart of the plate, we're not missing it, and when they're trying to get us to chase and they're chasing strikeouts, we're not going after those pitches. We're staying in the zone, we're getting guys on base, and we're making them throw the ball in the zone. And when they do, we're just putting together really quality at-bats. I think us knowing we can do that one through nine, you just know you're always in the game."

"I've noticed that our dugout is becoming more and more vocal," Hyde said. "For a while there early it was just Roogie and CO (Chris Owings) and Robby (Robinson Chirinos). And now there's a lot of life in our dugout and I think our guys have really fed off those three guys. It's a lot of encouraging going on and great dugout talk, so really happy with how positive we are."

Sulser allowed two runs and seven hits in three innings, with no walks or strikeouts. Marcos Diplán threw two scoreless innings. Cionel Pérez stranded two runners in the eighth that he inherited from Dillon Tate, and Jorge López appeared in a non-save situation.

"I hope these types of games continue to build confidence in our hitters," Hyde said. "I think our guys are recognizing now there's no clock in baseball and that you play out through those 27 outs. I just thought we really grinded the second half of the game."

While the Orioles tried to save their bullpen, and later an improbable lead, with Saturday’s doubleheader looming, Grayson Rodriguez tossed seven scoreless innings at Triple-A Norfolk and allowed only two hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches, 68 for strikes.

Rodriguez has registered a 0.94 ERA in his last five starts, with three runs and 14 hits, nine walks and 43 strikeouts over 28 2/3 innings.

Notes: Catcher Anthony Bemboom cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.

Former Orioles executive Dan Duquette was inducted tonight into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. He was chosen in 2020, but COVID-19 protocols delayed the ceremony.