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BOSTON — -
The sizable gap between the two teams in proven major league talent is a perfectly acceptable explanation for the Boston Red Sox's recent dominance over the Orioles.
But there are more subtle differences as well that fall into the realm of one team finding a way to win and the other consistently finding ways to lose. Victor Martinez came off the bench and delivered a three-run double off Danys Baez to break a seventh-inning tie and push the Red Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Orioles in front of an announced 37,712 Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
"The game came down to two phases - getting the third out and getting a hit," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "It didn't happen for us. It happened for them. They got the out in matchup situations when they needed it, and they got the big hit with Martinez when they needed it. We had the same opportunities, and it didn't happen for us. It was certainly there for either team."
The Orioles had the bases loaded and one out in the sixth but couldn't tack on to their one-run lead. The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Dustin Pedroia's two-out single off the leg of pitcher Matt Albers, then took control in the seventh against a mistake-prone Baez.
Trailing by three runs, the Orioles brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth and Luke Scott threw a scare into the home team with a drive to deep center field. But it went for only a sacrifice fly, and All-Star closer Jonathon Papelbon retired Ty Wigginton to end the game.
It was the Orioles' 13th loss to the Red Sox in 15 games this season, and they ended the away portion of their season series against Boston with a 1-8 record at Fenway Park, where they were outscored 59-28 this year. The Orioles are 7-31 in 38 games here dating to the 2005 season.
The loss dropped the Orioles to 56-83 and means they'll have to close the season with a 7-16 mark to avoid their first 100-loss season since 1988. That stretch starts Friday at new Yankee Stadium, where the Orioles still haven't won a game in 2009.
Wednesday night's loss did include one highlight, as Brian Roberts' fifth-inning double off the Green Monster made him the fourth player in major league history to record three or more 50-double seasons. The other three - Tris Speaker, Paul Waner and Stan Musial - are in the Hall of Fame.
"Maybe I'll look back on it and it will certainly be something that I'll probably eventually be proud of," Roberts said. "I'm guessing that will be the only thing in my career that I'll be in that sort of company for."
It was also Roberts who drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game in the sixth. Felix Pie followed with an RBI single on Ramon Ramirez's first pitch to give the Orioles their first lead. But that was when the momentum changed and the Orioles saw their best chance to salvage a two-game split in the series go by the wayside.
With the bases still loaded and one out, Ramirez struck out the Orioles' No. 3 and 4 hitters - Nolan Reimold and Nick Markakis - to keep Boston's deficit at 4-3. Reimold got ahead 3-1, fouled a ball off and then took a called third strike. Markakis also faced a 3-1 count and then was overpowered by back-to-back 96-mph fastballs from Ramirez.
"I think I tried to do too much," Markakis said. "I swung at some pitches too hard instead of just putting a good swing on it and letting everything else [take care] of itself. If I could go back, I'd change it. It happens. I guess you can say it definitely changed the momentum of the game."
Trying to protect the one-run lead, Trembley eventually used four relievers to get the next five outs after a solid outing from rookie Jason Berken (three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings). Albers gave up the game-tying single to Pedroia in the sixth before surrendering a leadoff single to Kevin Youkilis in the decisive seventh.
Mark Hendrickson struck out David Ortiz before Baez entered and allowed a single to Jason Bay, walked Mike Lowell and then watched his first pitch to Martinez get knocked into the left-center-field gap.
"I didn't have very good command today," Baez said. "I was behind all the time."
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
But there are more subtle differences as well that fall into the realm of one team finding a way to win and the other consistently finding ways to lose. Victor Martinez came off the bench and delivered a three-run double off Danys Baez to break a seventh-inning tie and push the Red Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Orioles in front of an announced 37,712 Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
"The game came down to two phases - getting the third out and getting a hit," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "It didn't happen for us. It happened for them. They got the out in matchup situations when they needed it, and they got the big hit with Martinez when they needed it. We had the same opportunities, and it didn't happen for us. It was certainly there for either team."
The Orioles had the bases loaded and one out in the sixth but couldn't tack on to their one-run lead. The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Dustin Pedroia's two-out single off the leg of pitcher Matt Albers, then took control in the seventh against a mistake-prone Baez.
Trailing by three runs, the Orioles brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth and Luke Scott threw a scare into the home team with a drive to deep center field. But it went for only a sacrifice fly, and All-Star closer Jonathon Papelbon retired Ty Wigginton to end the game.
It was the Orioles' 13th loss to the Red Sox in 15 games this season, and they ended the away portion of their season series against Boston with a 1-8 record at Fenway Park, where they were outscored 59-28 this year. The Orioles are 7-31 in 38 games here dating to the 2005 season.
The loss dropped the Orioles to 56-83 and means they'll have to close the season with a 7-16 mark to avoid their first 100-loss season since 1988. That stretch starts Friday at new Yankee Stadium, where the Orioles still haven't won a game in 2009.
Wednesday night's loss did include one highlight, as Brian Roberts' fifth-inning double off the Green Monster made him the fourth player in major league history to record three or more 50-double seasons. The other three - Tris Speaker, Paul Waner and Stan Musial - are in the Hall of Fame.
"Maybe I'll look back on it and it will certainly be something that I'll probably eventually be proud of," Roberts said. "I'm guessing that will be the only thing in my career that I'll be in that sort of company for."
It was also Roberts who drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game in the sixth. Felix Pie followed with an RBI single on Ramon Ramirez's first pitch to give the Orioles their first lead. But that was when the momentum changed and the Orioles saw their best chance to salvage a two-game split in the series go by the wayside.
With the bases still loaded and one out, Ramirez struck out the Orioles' No. 3 and 4 hitters - Nolan Reimold and Nick Markakis - to keep Boston's deficit at 4-3. Reimold got ahead 3-1, fouled a ball off and then took a called third strike. Markakis also faced a 3-1 count and then was overpowered by back-to-back 96-mph fastballs from Ramirez.
"I think I tried to do too much," Markakis said. "I swung at some pitches too hard instead of just putting a good swing on it and letting everything else [take care] of itself. If I could go back, I'd change it. It happens. I guess you can say it definitely changed the momentum of the game."
Trying to protect the one-run lead, Trembley eventually used four relievers to get the next five outs after a solid outing from rookie Jason Berken (three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings). Albers gave up the game-tying single to Pedroia in the sixth before surrendering a leadoff single to Kevin Youkilis in the decisive seventh.
Mark Hendrickson struck out David Ortiz before Baez entered and allowed a single to Jason Bay, walked Mike Lowell and then watched his first pitch to Martinez get knocked into the left-center-field gap.
"I didn't have very good command today," Baez said. "I was behind all the time."
Bad company
The Orioles on Tuesday night became the 11th team with a streak of 12 or more consecutive losing seasons:| Streak | Team | Seasons |
| 17 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1993-2009 |
| 16 | Philadelphia Phillies | 1933-1948 |
| 15 | Boston Red Sox | 1919-1933 |
| 15 | Phila./Kansas City A's | 1953-1967 |
| 14 | Philadelphia Phillies | 1918-1931 |
| 14 | Seattle Mariners | 1977-1990 |
| 13 | Philadelphia Athletics | 1934-1946 |
| 12 | St. Louis Browns | 1930-1941 |
| 12 | Milwaukee Brewers | 1993-2004 |
| 12 | Detroit Tigers | 1994-2005 |
| 12 | Orioles | 1998-2009 |
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Thanks for nothing, Angeloser. Twelve years of nothing.
It's time you recognized your abject incompetence and turned the team over to someone who can end this atrocious futility.
kjerry (09/10/2009, 3:00 PM )