Boston Red Sox: 3 factors in Game 67 extra-innings win in Baltimore
The Boston Red Sox bats were still silent Monday night in Baltimore, but strong pitching led the way in a 2-0 shutout victory over the Orioles.
The Boston Red Sox offensive woes followed them to Camden Yards on Monday night, but the team managed a 2-0 victory in extra innings to start their 10-game road trip.
With Mookie Betts inserted back in the lineup, the Sox still couldn’t find a way to get to Baltimore Orioles starter Dylan Bundy, who gave up just three hits over eight innings.
Betts went 1-for-5 for an offense that failed to put together a string of hits until the extra frames.
Fortunately, Steven Wright and the bullpen were just as good in this game combining to pitch 12 scoreless innings to eventually allow the offensive to pull together a couple of runs in the top of the 12th inning.
Those runs came on back-to-back sacrifice flies off the bats of Brock Holt and Jackie Bradley Jr. after the team loaded the bases with no outs against Orioles reliever Mychal Givens.
Closer Craig Kimbrel came in to earn his 21st save giving Heath Hembree the win.
But, the night belonged to Wright who had his knuckleball going.
In the 6 2/3 innings pitched, Steven Wright allowed four hits with five strikeouts. In extending his Major League leading scoreless streak to 22 2/3 innings, Steven Wright knew he had to be aggressive despite the Orioles offensive struggles.
"“I feel like, especially against this lineup, I know they’ve been struggling,” Wright said following the game, via MLB.com. “But they’ve got a pretty powerful lineup. You can’t take a hitter off because I’ve faced a lot of these guys for the last five or six years, and so I know what they can do and what they’re capable of doing.”"
With the way Bundy pitched and the offensive woes of his own team, every quality pitch was necessary and needed to secure the team’s 45th win of the season.