Orioles offense breaks out in 12-5 win (with quotes)

BOSTON - While so much attention is being paid to the flu and how the Red Sox didn't appreciate the needling from manager Buck Showalter, the Orioles may have found a cure for the common knuckleball.

Drop the heavy lumber on it.

The Orioles sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning and scored six runs on six hits. It started with Seth Smith being tapped by the first pitch from Steven Wright and ended with Smith sending left fielder Chris Young to the warning track with a scorching line drive.

In between were an RBI double by Manny Machado, an RBI single by Mark Trumbo, a single by Welington Castillo and back-to-back home runs by Trey Mancini and Jonathan Schoop.

J.J. Hardy singled to bring Smith to the plate again and increase the volume on the booing from the Fenway Park stands.

It got louder. The ovation would be saved for the man who took Wright out of the game.

Wright served up four home runs, including solo shots by Adam Jones and Chris Davis, and was done after 1 1/3 innings. Red Sox manager John Farrell received a nice ovation as he walked to the mound to remove Wright, who threw 34 pitches and allowed eight runs and eight hits.

The Orioles began the night tied for last in the majors with 21 runs scored and concluded it with a 12-5 victory that halted their losing streak at two games and enabled them to split the series. It got a little tense with Ubaldo Jiménez failing to clear five innings, but the flight to Toronto grew more pleasant.

Mancini, getting the start in left field, hit a three-run homer to right-center field. Schoop and Hardy were 2-for-19 before their home run and single, respectively.

The Orioles (5-2) didn't collect more than three hits in an inning this season, but they had six tonight after the first.

Mancini homered again leading off the third against reliever Ben Taylor, the first multi-homer game of his young career. The ball disappeared, and so did the last few people asking why Hyun Soo Kim didn't start in left field.

The Notre Dame product is the first player in Orioles history with five home runs in 10 major league games, according to Elias. He's a keeper.

Jones' home run was his 224th as an Oriole, moving him past Rafael Palmeiro for fifth place on the all-time list. Jones and Davis have homered in the same game 37 times since becoming teammates in 2011, the highest total for any combination in baseball over that span.

Jones cleared the Green Monster in the second inning, a shot measured by Statcast at 421 feet. Davis' ball traveled 406 feet.

The Orioles set a club record with eight home runs in a June 16, 2015 game against the Phillies. They had five tonight by the third inning, matching their season total.

Before Wright, the last Red Sox pitcher to allow eight or more runs in 1 1/3 innings or fewer was Josh Beckett on June 5, 2006.

Jiménez was better than Wright, but he wasn't right. His pitch count exceeded 100 with two runners on base in the fifth inning, one out and the Orioles ahead 9-4. He was gone after walking Mitch Moreland on his 104th pitch to load the bases, and Xander Bogaerts' RBI single off Mychal Givens shaved the lead to 9-5.

Jiménez was charged with five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, with two walks, a strikeout and a home run. Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run homer in the fourth after Bogaerts' RBI single. Jiménez's ERA stayed at 10.38 because he also allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings in his first start.

The rotation beyond Dylan Bundy isn't performing at an acceptable level. Seven games and Bundy owns the only two quality starts.

Givens struck out Sandoval for the second out in the fifth, a huge out against a left-handed batter, and Young flied to deep center field to leave the bases loaded. Givens was superb with two scoreless innings before Donnie Hart replaced him in the seventh with none on and one out.

Hart struck out three batters in 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Castillo lined a two-run double down the right field line in the seventh after Davis and Trumbo singled, making him 8-for-21 with the Orioles. Schoop added an RBI single with one out to increase the lead to 12-5.

Manager Buck Showalter on Wright: "He's a lot better than that. Glad we get out of here because he'll right the ship. He's a good one. Just one of those nights tonight. He threw a really good one to Adam in the first inning and I kind of went, 'Oh, there it is.' I can't speak to a knuckleballer and nobody can. It's hard. But he's got a good body of work. He'll be fine. We were just fortunate."

Showalter on Jiménez: "Ubaldo, a little frustrating because he was really good early on and it looked like he was going to pitch like a veteran should pitch with a lead and then it just kind of left him there and he couldn't seem to get his delivery back together. I know it's frustrating for him. Created some anxiety in the game. Of course, in this ballpark, it's always a possibility. Nobody takes anything for granted."

Showalter on offense breaking out: "I could tell walking around the locker room today our guys were frustrated about last night. They were looking forward to getting back out there and getting back to playing the type of baseball we're capable of and have to play."

Showalter on Givens: "I thought Mychal Givens was one of the keys to the game tonight. Came in and kind of got some momentum back to us. Welington had a big base hit to take that momentum and run with it."

Mancini on reaction to tonight's performance: "It felt incredible and it's something I'll remember my whole life. It was a special night, for sure, and to be able to do it in a place like this is something I couldn't have imagined."

Mancini on whether he felt a big night coming: "Yeah, I've been watching this team the last few years ever since I got drafted and I know if there's a couple of slow offensive games, there's one game where it's just an outpouring of offense, and tonight was the night. It felt really good to be a part of that and it was a great night."

Mancini on whether he sensed more runs coming after his homer: "Oh, definitely. The first inning and after that, you just kind of had that feeling. It was one of those nights and hitting is really contagious. It's an old baseball cliché, but for whatever reason, I don't know if it gives everybody confidence or whatever it is. One guy went up, got a hit and the next guy came and did the same thing. It was really awesome to be a part of that."

Mancini on a knuckleballer being the latest challenge: "I had a little bit of experience. I faced Eddie Gamboa in Triple-A last year, but not too much. I talked to Cooley (Scott Coolbaugh) and Howie (Clark) about what my approach should be off the knuckleballer. And it's been a learning experience in the field, too, and being able to play left field at Fenway is a really cool thing."

Mancini on five home runs in first 10 games being a club record: "I didn't know that, actually. That's really cool. It's something I can definitely appreciate."

Davis on whether he sensed a big night coming: "I think after last night, just the mood in the clubhouse, everybody was disappointed and I think we played such a sloppy game last night, especially defensively and really didn't have much to show for it. I think tonight going into the game guys wanted to go back out there and get the momentum back in our dugout and try to come out with a win."

Davis on Wright: "I don't know if the cold weather makes a difference, but I mean, his knuckleball last year, the first time we faced him at our place, it was dancing all over the place. Tonight, it was just a little bit more flat. I don't know if he was throwing it harder or he couldn't get it to dance the way that he normally does, but we obviously took advantage of it early and got on him."

Davis on whether he's pleased with his start: "It's obviously still early, but every year you want to get off to a good start. I think the biggest thing for me is I'm not going out there and trying to do too much. I felt good at the plate the last few games and have had some return for that. I'm excited not only with where I'm at, but where the team is at."

Jiménez on not going further with nine-run lead: "It's one of the worst feelings, especially when you make the guys in the bullpen come into the game that early. I mean, of course you want to get a W, but what hurts the most is when you make those guys come into the game."

Jiménez on what happened after looking good early: "I was doing good. I had my fastball, command was good, the breaking ball was good, but I was throwing way too many pitches per hitters. I mean, I think that's something that I need to work on. In these last two games I haven't found a way to put hitters away. Even when I get ahead I've been throwing way too many pitches and they made my pitch count go up. I started leaving everything flat. That's what happened."