Orioles open special weekend with blowout win (with quotes)

BOSTON - It would be premature for the Orioles to petition Major League Baseball to continue wearing the Players Weekend uniforms through the remainder of the season. It also would be unwise because the neon orange could damage the vision of people too stubborn to divert their eyes.

A solar eclipse comes with less risk.

One game shouldn't carry such influence, but the Orioles proved that it's better to play good than to look good. Some would argue that they did both, depending on personal taste.

The Orioles scored in each of the first three innings against Rick Porcello, sent 12 batters to the plate in the fifth and finished with their most runs in two years, taking advantage of a prolific offense and the Red Sox's sloppy play in a 16-3 victory before a sellout crowd of 37,191 at Fenway Park.

With wins in three of their last four games, the Orioles have improved to 63-65 overall and 25-39 on the road. They're 8-6 against the Red Sox and 28-22 in the American League East.

Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis homered for the Orioles, who hadn't won consecutively since Aug. 6-7. Trumbo is the sixth Oriole with 20 home runs, joining Davis, Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Adam Jones and Trey Mancini.

Sixteen runs and only two via the long ball? It really is a special weekend.

The Orioles' previous high this season came in a 15-7 win over the Cardinals on June 17. They hadn't totaled 16 runs since 2015. The 20 hits equaled their season high.

Seth Smith's two-run single with two outs in the fifth gave the Orioles a 9-2 lead and forced Porcello from the game. Tim Beckham greeted Joe Kelly with a two-run double, and last year's American League Cy Young Award winner was charged with four earned runs and seven unearned.

The Orioles scored seven runs in the inning, only one earned. Kelly gave up an RBI single to Schoop, his second hit of the inning, and a run-scoring single to Jones that was accompanied by the Red Sox's fifth error.

The five errors are a season high for the Red Sox, who committed four against the Orioles in a game earlier this summer. They came from five different players tonight.

The visiting side had three errors via Schoop, Beckham and reliever Richard Bleier, but it put on a defensive clinic by comparison.

The game got so far out of hand, first baseman Mitch Moreland pitched the top of the ninth inning. He struck out Caleb Joseph and retired Craig Gentry on a ground ball to short. Mancini and Davis singled, the latter collecting his 1,000th major league hit, but Trumbo grounded to short.

Perhaps Moreland should have started.

Jeremy Hellickson warranted some of the attention with his third quality start in five games with the Orioles. He allowed three runs (two earned) and four hits in seven innings, with no walks, two strikeouts and a home run.

Both runs off Porcello in the first inning were unearned after one-out singles by Machado and Schoop. Mamba had four hits and Mr. Miami had three.

Porcello knocked down Jones' scorching line drive, retrieved the ball and threw it into center field to let Machado score. Mancini followed with a sacrifice fly.

Mancini also had a two-run triple in the seventh off Blaine Boyer and scored on Davis' sacrifice fly. Mancini leads the club with three triples, which everyone predicted back in spring training.

Boston committed two more errors in the second after Trumbo's leadoff home run and Welington Castillo's single. Beckham reached with one out on third baseman Rafael Devers' poor throw and Machado followed with an RBI single. Machado stole second and Beckham scored when catcher Sandy Leon's throw bounced into center field.

Machado raced to third base while second baseman Eduardo Núñez laid on the ground in pain, suffering from a sprained left wrist and thumb. X-rays were negative and he's day-to-day.

There was nothing dirty about the slide. Let it go.

Davis homered with one out in the fourth inning, his 21st of the season, to give the Orioles a 6-2 lead. Mancini had an RBI single in the seven-run fifth.

Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer in the second after Schoop's throwing error from shallow right field. Hellickson served up a career-high five home runs in his last start, but only one tonight.

Hellickson retired the next nine batters before Devers led off the bottom of the fifth with a single. By then, the Orioles led 13-2 and Hellickson spent so much time in the dugout, he probably forgot that he was starting.

Players have been known to trash throwback and gimmicky jerseys deemed unlucky. The Orioles may sleep in the full uniform tonight.

Manager Buck Showalter on whether guys like hitting in uniforms: "Yeah, it looked like it tonight. I don't know. I guess you could make a case for it. I know the guys got a big kick out of me coming out of the dugout with that stuff on. I know one thing, I wasn't going to sneak up on anybody. Did you see Flaherty's shoes? I told him I was going to play him until I saw what shoes he planned on wearing. He had his Vandy shoes on tonight."

Showalter on having his guys unload on Red Sox: "It looks like Chris and Trum are getting ready to ... We caught Porcello on a down night. He's been pitching well. And we also had the benefit of them having a night game in Cleveland. We've had that a lot, it seems like, where we're playing a game and the other team's already in the hotel. It's just part of the schedule you don't like to see, so I felt fortunate we caught them in a tough travel day. We know they'll be back again tomorrow. They're a good club and we just caught them on a down night. They're a really good defensive team. We made a couple errors, too."

Showalter on Hellickson: "I thought two keys I kind of felt like was the start we got from him, and Smitty had a big two-run hit with the bases loaded, kind of opened it up. You're going to need every run you can get in this place. But Jeremy, everything starts and ends with him. He had those two extra days and we're going to continue to try to give that to him because we seem to get a return with it. And this is a club that's had some success off him, too. First time he's gotten Betts out."

Showalter on importance of Hellickson in pennant race: "He's got some background, but it's a long year and most guys benefit from a little extra rest. He's a guy who doesn't get rattled. He's one of the best fielding pitchers in the league and it's tough to run on him and tough to bunt on him. We feel comfortable playing a shift with him on the mound, because it's tough to get a bunt past him."

Showalter on how Mancini, Schoop and Machado are in middle of big nights: "I was looking today at stats a little bit with the team stuff and those three young players are really putting together solid years. Every time we think Trey's getting ready to kind of be a little more rookie-like, he gets right back on the horse. The thing I'm most proud of, I think, with him is the way that he's turned into a dependable left fielder. He's out there every day. You see him out there early BP taking balls off the wall. He wants to be good at it."

Showalter on Mancini leading club in triples: "It's not over yet. I don't know if Trey will continue to lead that, but most triples are a product of running really hard down the line and not assuming anything and Trey's made a couple plays for us baserunning that are just effort plays."

Schoop on whether it was strange to see Red Sox play poorly: "They're a really good team, but we know what we can do. The errors, they made a lot of errors, but we had a lot of hits, too. We had a lot of hits. It's not only the errors. We know what we can do to any pitcher in the game. Come out and score a lot of runs."

Schoop on wearing special uniforms: "It was fun. It was fun. Different look. But when the game started, it's time to go out there, play hard and try to win. The uniform is fun, but the game is the same. You've got to out there and compete and win."

Schoop on energy provided by younger players: "We're young, but we learned from the best - Jonesy, J.J. (Hardy), Davis, all the guys who were before us and teach us the right thing to do, teach us the right way to handle business. We're out there and bring the energy for the team. Every time I go out there I try to bring everything I've got and help the team."

Mancini on whether there's talk of a sense of urgency: "That's not said, but I think everybody knows that we've got just a little over a month left. It's definitely time to string some wins together, and tonight was a good game for us."

Mancini on uniforms: "It was pretty fun. We looked like we were going on a big hunting trip with those hats there. They're pretty bright. I warmed up to them actually. When we were all out on the field together, it looked pretty cool. But it's fun to see everybody's nickname, and things like Manny's cleats, it was pretty awesome to see everybody's own flair on everything."

Mancini on young guys being big part of rallies: "Definitely. Hitting for whatever reason is contagious. It really is and everybody swung the bat well tonight. It was definitely fun to be part of the offense tonight and help contribute to that."

Hellickson on run support: "It's really nice. Probably scored too many runs, actually. Fifth inning, I felt I hadn't thrown the whole game. You can't say enough about this offense."

Hellickson on what he did during long fifth: "It's tough. You can't really do much. You just kind of stretch. There's a little hallway in there. I ran up and down a couple of times. It's tough. There's not much you can do. Put a jacket on and that's about it."

Hellickson on extra rest: "I feel like the ball had a lot more life to it than the last couple of games, but I think my command was just a lot better than it's been. That was the biggest thing. I was just going right after guys. Getting ahead for the most part and just letting our defense play."