Red Sox Clinch Series With Orioles Thanks To Some Unlikely Power

The beauty of baseball and what keeps us tuning in despite a regular season that's way too long (162 games) and tedious is the chance to see something crazy that you'll surely never witness again.



This afternoon was one of those type of contests as the Red Sox (22-22, 13-11 away) beat the Orioles (28-17, 13-11 home) 6-5 at Camden Yards.



The win clinched the series for Boston (2-1) while also keeping them hot (10-3 in their last 13 games). Best of all, they completed their absurd 20 games in 20 days stretch (11-9) and eight-game road trip (5-3) in good shape. This is the third time that the Red Sox have reached .500 this season, hopefully now they'll take the next step and get over it-something they haven't done yet.



I'm very confident that Daniel Nava (2 hits), Kelly Shoppach (2 hits) and Scott Podsednik (2 hits, 2 runs) will never all hit home runs in the same game again but that's exactly what they did today. Boston needed all those longballs since Daniel Bard (4-5) didn't give them anything more than an average start. In 5.1 innings, Bard allowed two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and four walks. As always, I ask: why isn't he in the bullpen? He's not nearly the same guy when he starts, he's lost his velocity and he can't put any batters away.



Jake Arrieta (2-5) wasn't good either for the O's. He went 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and three walks.



The Red Sox had 13 hits, including two from Kevin Youkilis (run, walk) and Will Middlebrooks (RBI). The Orioles were limited to seven, basically by three players Xavier Avery (2 hits, run), Adam Jones (2 hits) and Nick Johnson (3 RBIs, 2 hits, 2 runs), who hit not one but two home runs. I said it was a strange day, right?



Alfredo Aceves had his third straight perfect outing as he got four outs for his 11th save of the season.



Baltimore went up 1-0 in the first on Chris Davis's sacrifice fly. Boston tied it on Podsednik's double play ball in the second. Johnson (3rd of the season) hit a solo shot in the second. Middlebrooks tied it with an RBI double in the third although Youk was easily gunned down at the plate to end the inning on the same play.



Nava (2nd of the season) and Shoppach (2nd of the season) both went deep in the sixth, Shoppach's was a two-run blast. Johnson answered with his second home run, in the sixth, but Podsednik made it 6-4 with a solo homer in the eighth-his first since Sept. 2010 with the Dodgers.



The Orioles threatened in the eighth and pulled a run back on Wilson Betemit's sacrifice fly (that would have been more if not for a great diving catch by Che-Hsuan Lin in right field) but Aceves struck out Johnson to end the frame.



After a much needed day off tomorrow, the Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays for three games this weekend then the Detroit Tigers for four games at Fenway Park. Tampa Bay (27-18, 2nd place AL East) has already played Boston six times with the Red Sox going 4-2 so far.



Jon Lester (3-3) faces rookie Alex Cobb (1-0) on Friday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Josh Beckett (4-4) gets David Price (6-3) on Saturday night (7:15 p.m., FOX) and Clay Buchholz (4-2) opposes Jeremy Hellickson (4-1) on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN).



It's Memorial Day weekend in a few days so it's about time that the Red Sox get over the hump and don't look back to their pitiful start to 2012.



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To Nobody's Surprise, Daniel Bard Sure Is A Mediocre Starting Pitcher

When will the Red Sox give up on the Daniel Bard as a starter experiment? It has been clear since day one that he's nothing more than average in this new role and he's maddeningly inconsistent to top it all off.



Boston (18-21, 9-10 away) spotted Philadelphia (21-19, 10-9 home) a 4-0 lead in the first inning and with Cole Hamels (6-1) on the mound, it's no wonder that the Phillies held on for a 6-4 win in the series and interleague opener tonight at Citizens Bank Park.



It was the sixth straight win for the Phillies and Hamels as well who improved to 4-0 against the Red Sox in five career starts.



Hamels went seven innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and a walk. Bard (3-5) lasted five innings, allowing five earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and five walks.



The Red Sox hit three home runs but unfortunately they were all of the solo variety. The Phillies hit two homers but they also did a better job of hitting with guys on base.



Of course Jonathan Papelbon had to get the easiest save opportunity possible in his first game back against his former club. In pinning down his MLB-leading 12th save of the season, Papelbon faced the murderer's row of Kelly Shoppach, Daniel Nava, Marlon Byrd and Nick Punto. Shoppach singled but Papelbon retired Nava and Byrd before striking out the overmatched Punto (why is he here?) to end it.



There was some controversy in the ninth on Byrd's ground out which seemed to be a bang bang play at first base. He was called out and this caused Bobby Valentine to run out of the dugout and freak out (complete with hopping and the umpire accidentally spitting his gum at him). Bobby received the first ejection of his Red Sox career (that looks destined to be one year or less).



Bard's nightmare first inning included a two-run single by Carlos Ruiz (2 hits, run, stolen base), a sacrifice fly from Ty Wigginton and John Mayberry Jr's RBI double.



Boston chipped away at the 4-0 hole with a solo homer by Mike Aviles (6th of the season) in the third and Nava's sacrifice fly in the fourth.



Hunter Pence (10th of the season) hit a solo home run in the fifth for the Phillies but Cody Ross (2 hits, 2 runs) responded with his own solo blast in the sixth and Adrian Gonzalez broke his month-long homerless drought with a solo home run of his own in the eighth.



Citizens Bank Park is still a Little League Park, aka Wiliamsport, as evidenced by light-hitting Freddy Galvis's (2nd of the season) solo shot in the eighth against Franklin Morales that gave Philly an insurance run.



In addition to the loss, Boston suffered two freak injuries as Jarrod Saltalamacchia was cut on his ear by the baseball when it deflected off Ty Wiggington. Salty had to leave the game in the fifth inning and go to the hospital to check for a concussion. Ross fouled the ball off his foot in the eighth and he had to be replaced. Their status is up in the air for Saturday's game.



Speaking of that contest (7:15 p.m., FOX) Jon Lester (2-3) takes on Joe Blanton (4-3). This is the one pitching matchup in the three-game series that at least on paper favors the Red Sox so they need to find a way to beat Blanton and the Phils.



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