BOSTON - The reprieve from road losses was a brief one.
Dylan Bundy served up three home runs tonight within the first five innings and the Orioles lost to the Red Sox 6-3 at Fenway Park for their fourth defeat in the last six games.
The Orioles are 14-31 overall and 4-18 on the road. They haven't won back-to-back games away from Camden Yards since April 5-6 in the Bronx.
Mookie Betts continued his torrid stretch with a two-run shot in the fifth that broke a 1-1 tie and Andrew Benintendi followed with a shot into the visiting bullpen on a two-strike slider.
Bundy allowed four runs and five hits in six innings, including Rafael Devers' solo shot in the fourth that tied the game 1-1. He's surrendered 13 home runs in 53 2/3 innings. He walked two batters tonight and struck out eight before left-hander Tanner Scott replaced him.
The Orioles have homered in 12 straight games, with Pedro Ãlvarez's opposite-field, two-run shot in the sixth off Rick Porcello reducing the lead to 4-3. Ãlvarez's eight home runs rank second on the team behind Manny Machado (14). But the last 11 Orioles were retired.
Scott walked the first two batters he faced in the seventh and Benintendi grounded a two-run single up the middle to increase the lead to 6-3. Miguel Castro replaced Scott with one out and no longer is a consideration to start Sunday's series finale.
David Hess will be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk and make his second major league start.
Machado and Betts were tied for the major league lead before tonight. Betts' two-run shot came on a 91 mph four-seamer.
The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the third inning after loading the bases with one out on Chance Sisco's leadoff double, Adam Jones' single and Machado's walk. Schoop sent a towering fly ball to left field to score Sisco.
Devers went to the opposite field with two outs to tie the game, but Bundy struck out Eduardo Nunez on his 65th pitch to end the inning.
The Red Sox worked Bundy for 29 pitches in the first inning. He walked two batters, including J.D. Martinez on nine pitches.
Bundy threw only 10 in the second despite Nunez's one-out double. He struck out Jackie Bradley Jr. on three pitches to end the inning. And he retired the side in order on 12 pitches in the third.
A shutdown inning from Bundy followed Alvarez's home run in the sixth and he needed only 10 pitches to leave him at 98.
Joe Kelly entered the game in the seventh and retired the side in order with two strikeouts and a comebacker. The Orioles put a runner on base in every inning against Porcello.
Matt Barnes also retired the side in order in the eighth. Chris Davis struck out for the fourth time tonight and in his sixth consecutive at-bat.
Craig Kimbrel recorded the last three outs in routine fashion for the save, and the Orioles fell to 1-5 against the Red Sox this season.
Update: Manager Buck Showalter confirmed that Hess will start Sunday. A corresponding roster move is coming.
"Hess is going to pitch tomorrow," he said. "We had to wait and see with the rain and potential of even starting Castro tomorrow and activating David to have some length. But he got in tonight. Legally we couldn't bring him over here, but I've already told Alex (Cora) that he's pitching tomorrow."
Showalter on Bundy: "Just keeping it in the park. That's been a challenge for us in the starting pitching department. It's pretty obvious. But those conditions are so hard to pitch in. All the pitchers.
"You watch his outing, you'll pull up a box score tomorrow and somebody will think he didn't pitch particularly well and that's why you go to the games. I thought he pitched Betts well and just made one mistake on him. It's just the execution of the pitches. They're hitting mistakes that we're throwing and it's been a challenge for us keeping it in the park."
Showalter on getting within one run: "I thought Pete's (home run) was a big one there. We had to stretch a lot of people yesterday. If we could have got a shutdown inning there. Tanner just couldn't find the plate."
Showalter on the walks and more Bundy: "There was a seven-, eight-inning outing there, but the next thing you know he's thrown almost 30 pitches in the first inning. But he settled in there good.
"Dylan, it's tough for me to fault much with him. I thought he had good stuff, threw it over in a tough venue and a really tough nigh to pitch condition-wise. It always amazes me that these guys are able to command the ball as well as they can when you're playing in games like that."
Showalter on blame for 13 strikeouts: "It's both. It's them and us. It's something we've been challenged with and when you face even better pitching ... You look at the guys they ran out there at the end, the starting pitching. That's why you make commitments like that to those type of people. They're good pitchers.'
Bundy on having good stuff but three bad pitches: "Yeah, I felt the same way. Just three bad pitches and they took advantage of them and put four runs on the board."
Bundy on his taxing first inning: "Yeah, that first inning was tough. They were fouling off a lot of good pitches and they got my pitch count up there. So, I was kind of battling to get that pitch count down the whole night. I was able to get through six and still gave them the chance to win."
Bundy on Betts: "I had a good game plan. Just had one fastball that leaked up middle and he was able to take advantage of it."
Sisco on Bundy: "He had really good stuff tonight. For the most part, he was commanding his stuff, locating his pitches good with two strikes. Those three pitches that were in the zone, that they kind of put the barrel on."
Sisco on conditions: "It's always tough when the field's wet like that. We've played in it plenty of times. It's not really an excuse. It's something both teams have to deal with."
Sisco on Sox's bullpen: "Very good guys over there. Pound the zone with great stuff, but we're just trying to put together good at-bats. We had some good at-bats out there. We've just got to try to string some together."
Sisco on how team can't get on a roll: "It's always tough when you're not really winning ballgames. We're going to keep going out there every night. We're going to give it our all, try to swing some good innings together on offense and defense and try to get some wins. We're doing what we can right now. We're going to go out there and we're going to play our hardest, whether we're winning or losing."
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