Benches warned, a triple play executed and a game lost

BOSTON - Adam Jones heard his name announced tonight over the public address system at Fenway Park and the polite round of applause that accompanied his stroll to the plate in the first inning steadily grew into a standing ovation, fans reaching out to a rival player who was subjected last night to racial taunts and a bag of peanuts thrown in his direction.

Red Sox starter Chris Sale recognized the significance of the moment, stepped off the mound and let it build. Jones took a step out of the box, touched the bill of his helmet and nodded to the crowd. Mookie Betts removed his cap in right field and clapped his hand against his glove.

Sale struck out Jones and the ballpark erupted. Sale threw his next pitch behind Manny Machado's knees and plate umpire D.J. Reyburn issued warnings to both benches.

And that's a wrap on warm and fuzzy. It can't be sustained in this rivalry.

Sale retired the first 13 batters and struck out 11 in eight innings in the Red Sox's 5-2 victory over the Orioles, who were in danger of falling back into a first-place tie with the Yankees in the American League East.

Machado homered to lead off the seventh after striking out twice, getting the Orioles (16-9) within a run. But Mychal Givens replaced Donnie Hart in the seventh and let both inherited runners score on Betts' double over Jones' head. Hart hadn't been charged with a run in his first 12 appearances.

Zach Britton, in his first appearance since April 14 in Toronto, escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the eighth after the Orioles executed their first triple play since Sept. 1, 2000 in Cleveland.

Jackie Bradley Jr.'s fly ball to shallow left field deflected off J.J. Hardy's glove. Hardy fired to the ball to second, Jonathan Schoop tagged Mitch Moreland, stepped on the bag for the force and threw to first, which Bradley had abandoned. Or maybe he never got there.

The inning began with a Moreland single and Dustin Pedroia walk. It ended in confusion.

Manager Buck Showalter raced onto the field in the first inning to argue the warning with Machado at the plate. The pitch clearly had a purpose after Dylan Bundy hit Betts in the hip last night.

Bundy walked four batters in the game and Showalter disputed the claim afterward by a Boston media member that the right-hander had "pinpoint control." Sale is the utter definition of it, with six walks and 52 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings before tonight.

Sale can dot a gnat's backside. Machado should just feel fortunate that Sale missed his knees.

Alec Asher didn't miss Hanley Ramirez's bat leading off the bottom of the fourth inning, the home run increasing Boston's lead to 2-0 - the largest margin provided for Sale this season. Or leading off the sixth, giving Ramirez 22 career multi-homer games and the Red Sox a 3-1 lead.

Ramirez was behind 0-2 in the count after three fastballs. He walloped a curveball.

The Red Sox scored in the second inning on Moreland's double and Pedroia's single into center field.

Asher and Sale are graduates of Lakeland (Fla.) High School, but never pitched on the same team. They weren't at the same level tonight. However, Asher now has two quality starts in two outings after allowing three runs and six hits in six innings, with one walk and four strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches, 63 for strikes.

Sale didn't allow a baserunner until Chris Davis walked with one out in the fifth. Jonathan Schoop grounded into a force and rookie Trey Mancini followed with an RBI double into left-center field.

Jones popped up in the fourth inning, flied to center field in the sixth and flied to right field in the eighth to end a nine-pitch at-bat. There didn't appear to be any incidents with the crowd, though none were readily apparent last night.

Jones was asked before the game whether the situation was put to rest.

"Nothing's at rest when it comes to race," he said. "Let's be honest with ourselves. It's been going on for a long, long time. Way before I've been in baseball, way before I was alive. It's all about having a conversation. Once you have a dialogue, you can work toward a resolve. And I think with the dialogue we can work toward something.

"This ain't the only place that it's like that. Last year in the wild card game, (Hyun Soo) Kim got a whole can of beer thrown at him. Now just imagine if that hit him in the head. A whole can of beer being thrown from 60 feet away, 20 feet in the air. I'm not a physics major, but I know velocity. It was coming hot. Just imagine if it hit him in the head and he can't play baseball the rest of his life, or he gets a brain hemorrhage. What do you do then, just kick the guy out? No.

"People need to be held to a higher accountability factor. You can't come to a major league game - a football game, basketball game, any game - and try to hurt the players. You spent your hard-earned money to go to watch the entertainment. Now, like I said, boo the players. That's well in your rights. We don't mind that. But never try to make it more than it is."

Trying to lighten the mood, Jones challenged members of the media to wear his shoes for 24 hours.

"They're comfortable," he said, drawing a laugh.

There was nothing comfortable about the abuse he took last night.

"I expect to be booed, I expect fans to tell me I suck as normal. But just keep the ignorant comments, keep that to yourself," he said.

"If I was at a game and heard somebody cussing out a player, I'd 100 percent get up and say, 'Hey man, what are you doing? There's kids here. This guy is a role model, he's out there doing something, he's working. Where you work at, let me go to your job and disrupt you the entire time. But it is what it is."

Jones has been subjected to racist behavior in the past. He's been targeted by unruly fans. Why go public with last night's treatment?

"It's always timing," he said. "I try to make sure I don't just flood everybody with everything that goes on, because every single day there's always something going on, but it was just the right time. It was something that was on my mind. It was frustrating for me. I'm a grown man with a family to raise, so I'm not just going to let somebody berate me.

"I'm a grown man and where I come from, you say things like that, you put on the gloves and you go after it. Obviously, in the real world you can't do that, especially in my field, so hopefully the awareness comes and people around in the stands will hold other fans accountable. And the Red Sox and other stadiums, I'm sure, are going to beef up security and try to get the ushers to facilitate a little better when they see some patrons who are a little bit too drunk.

"There were a few people that wanted to have their 15 seconds of fame, wanted to get my attention, stick their chests out and be bold. Well, where I'm from there's a different way to handle it. I heard what I heard. Walk in my shoes and you'll understand."

They're not always comfortable.

Down on the farm, Chris Tillman served up four home runs over five innings in his rehab start with Triple-A Norfolk in Charlotte. He was charged with five runs and five hits, with two walks, six strikeouts, a wild pitch and a hit batter. He threw 91 pitches, 52 for strikes.