 struck out five and walked three. Richard Bleier got one out and Darren O'Day retired the final three.Wearing ''Gausy'' on his jersey for Players Weekend, Gausman was nasty, mixing a low-to-mid-90s fastball with breaking stuff to limit solid contact.Eduardo Rodriguez (4-4) gave up five runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking one.The Orioles took control in the second. Mark Trumbo put Baltimore ahead with a single through the shortstop hole. Craig Gentry followed with a bloop RBI single to center before Beckham hit a 93 mph fastball off a billboard above the Green Monster seats.In his previous start in Fenway Park, Gausman was tossed in the second inning for hitting Xander Bogaerts in the back with a pitch during a testy stretch between the clubs in May.The only thing that seemed to go wrong for the Orioles was when first baseman Davis stepped on shortstop Beckham's left foot when the infielders converged for Hanley Ramirez's popup. Beckham hobbled to the dugout after the inning-ending play and stayed in the game.TRAINER'S ROOMOrioles: J. J. Hardy was scheduled to play another rehab game Saturday night for Triple-A Norfolk as he continues to work back from a broken right wrist. Manager Buck Showalter said Hardy's return was ''hopefully not too far away.'' Red Sox: 2B Eduardo Nunez was in the lineup after leaving Friday with a sprained left wrist and thumb. . 2B Dustin Pedroia, on the 10-day disabled list with left knee inflammation, took grounders and hit during batting practice. Manager John Farrell said there won't be a return date ''until he starts to fully run the bases and full functional work.'' . Farrell also said that CF Jackie Bradley Jr. has a smaller splint for his sprained left thumb that landed him on the DL Wednesday.NICE TOUCHSS Bogaerts, C Christian Vazquez and LF Chris Young each wore a T-shirt with the picture of Ari Schultz on the front during BP. He was a 5-year-old heart transplant patient who died last month.On the back were the words: ''Ari we miss you.'' Vazquez and Bogaerts visited Ari at his home about a week before he died and asked him to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, which was scheduled for Sunday.SOLID OFFENSEThe Orioles entered the day seventh in the majors in total runs, but had allowed 31 more.''Scoring runs hasn't been our problem,'' Showalter said. ''It's keeping the other teams from scoring, especially from the starting standpoint.'' UP NEXTOrioles: LHP Wade Miley (7-10, 5.11 ERA) is slated to start the series finale Sunday.Red Sox: RHP Doug Fister (3-6, 4.78) is coming off a complete-game one-hitter when he allowed a homer to Cleveland's first batter on Tuesday.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Orioles' Gausman look to erase memory vs. Red Sox 1h ago• 3 min read BOSTON -- The last time Baltimore Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman pitched against the Boston Red Sox, he was ejected from the game in the second inning after hitting Xander Bogaerts in the back with a breaking ball.Overreaction? Umpire Sam Holbrook said his crew was on "high alert" with the teams having been going at each other early in the season, a result of Manny Machado's unfortunate takeout of Boston's Dustin Pedroia 10 days earlier in Baltimore.Chris Sale threw behind Machado May 2 -- and Gausman was tossed the following day even though he threw an off-speed pitch."Just complete bush league, to be honest," said Gausman, who faces Boston's Eduardo Rodriguez in the second of a four-game weekend series at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon.Gausman, hammered for three home runs in a loss to the Red Sox in April, brings a 9-9 record and a 5.25 ERA into Saturday's game. He is 3-6 with a 4.76 ERA lifetime against the Red Sox -- 1-3 with a 4.66 at Fenway.In his last start, which lasted four-plus innings, Gausman gave up four homers to the Los Angeles Angels."I really had to grind to find command for my fastball," said Gausman after the outing. "Right out of the gate I was having a tough time, kind of battling against myself the whole night. That was the biggest difference between my starts lately and tonight." Rodriguez, the farmhand the Orioles traded to Baltimore for Andrew Miller, is going through a most unusual stretch for a pitcher. He has made seven starts since coming off the disabled list with his latest knee injury -- this one pushed by him slipping and falling in the bullpen in Baltimore -- and is 0-1 with six no decisions.He has pitched to a 4.33 ERA with no decisions in his last five starts -- and comes into this game hoping to calm things down the Red Sox, who have allowed 29 runs on 37 hits and made seven errors in losing two straight games.Despite the two losses, Boston has maintained its 4 1/2-game lead over the New York Yankees atop the American League East, while the Orioles, winners of three of their last four, are three games out of a wild card spot with six teams ahead of them.Rodriguez, 4-3 with a 4.01 ERA on the season, said the fall in the bullpen had nothing to do with the season-worst seven runs he gave up in Baltimore, but he hit the DL after it and didn't return until after the All-Star break. He allowed four hits and three runs in 5 2/3 innings his last time out -- yielding a three-run homer to Roberto Perez in the second inning before settling down."Just one bad pitch," Rodriguez said. "The changeup was right in the middle and he hit a homer," Rodriguez said. "I was able to command the pitches almost the whole time. Just one pitch in that inning and it was a homer." Rodriguez is 3-4 with a 4.37 ERA in nine career starts against Baltimore.The Orioles haven't had much success against the left-hander. Mark Trumbo is 2-for-17 (.118) with a home run, Jonathan Schoop, who had four hits Friday, is 3-for-16 (.188) with a homer and Chris Davis and Adam Jones are both 5-for-22 (.227).Mookie Betts is 10-for-23 (.435) with three homers and Andrew Benintendi is 3-for-4 (.750) against Gausman, while Sandy Leon is 0-for-8 with five strikeouts, Xander Bogaerts 1-for-8 (.125) and Hanley Ramirez 3-for-14 (.214) with two homers.
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