Red Sox Lose To Orioles 5-4 In 13 Innings

The Boston Red Sox went 13 innings without drawing a walk and didn't get a hit after the seventh.

And so, after the Baltimore Orioles pulled out a 5-4 victory Thursday night, the Red Sox didn't have to search far to find the reason for their defeat.

Quite simply, Baltimore pitched marvelously.

"To their credit, they came in, pounded the strike zone, didn't give us many opportunities that we didn't earn by virtue of a base hit," manager John Farrell said.

Will Middlebrooks, the only Boston player to get two hits, said, "They were able to make good pitches. They were able to throw all their pitches for strikes. They were getting ahead of us."

Chris Davis singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the 13th inning for Baltimore in the opener of a four-game series between AL East contenders.

Danny Valencia homered for the Orioles, who moved into second place and within 2{ games of Boston. Baltimore won despite leaving 16 on base and going 4 for 14 with runners in scoring position.

With two outs in the 13th, Nick Markakis drew a walk from Alex Wilson (1-1). Adam Jones singled and Davis followed with an opposite-field pop that landed in front of left fielder Daniel Nava.

It was a bitter end to an exhausting day for Wilson, who was summoned from Triple-A Pawtucket before the game.

"Long day of travel followed by a long game," he said. "It's just one of those things that seems to be happening a lot this year with everybody."

T.J. McFarland (1-0) pitched the 13th to earn his first major league win. The Orioles used seven pitchers, none of whom issued a walk, and Baltimore didn't allow so much as a hit over the final six innings.

"The zeros were awesome, but I think the most impressive part was no walks in 13 innings," Jones said.

It was the longest game of the season for Baltimore, in terms of innings and time (4:35). Boston went 14 innings on Monday in Tampa Bay

David Ortiz hit his team-high 14th home run for the Red Sox, and Mike Carp followed with a long ball of his own. Baltimore is the only AL East team that Boston has a losing record against (1-3).

Orioles rookie Kevin Gausman allowed two runs and six hits over 5 1-3 innings in his fifth big league start, striking out five and walking none. The 22-year-old left the mound with a 4-2 lead and in position to earn his first career win, but the bullpen gave up the advantage.

Gausman, the fourth pick in the 2012 draft, never pitched above Double-A before making his debut with Baltimore on May 23. He has a 1.54 ERA in two home starts and is 0-3 with a 12.15 ERA on the road.

After the game, he was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, presumably because the Orioles need help in the bullpen. The corresponding move will be announced Friday.

Boston tied it at 4 in the seventh against Brian Matusz. Three straight singles loaded the bases for Stephen Drew, who hit a sacrifice fly. Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a run-scoring fielder's choice, barely beating the relay to first base.

Red Sox starter Felix Doubront allowed three earned runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing since May 3.

"I threw a lot of good pitches," he said. "They took a lot of pitches, too."

Baltimore took a 3-0 lead in the third. Valencia led off with his fourth homer, Ryan Flaherty doubled and advanced on a bunt before Manny Machado blooped a broken-bat RBI single up the middle. Singles by Markakis and Davis produced another run.

Gausman retired seven straight batters before Ortiz and Carp connected in succession with two outs in the fourth. Carp entered in the third inning for starter Mike Napoli, who left with an unspecified illness.

In the Baltimore fifth, Markakis reached on an error at third by Middlebrooks and Doubront hit Jones with a pitch before Matt Wieters grounded an RBI single into left, his first hit against Doubront in 13 career at-bats. After a walk to J.J. Hardy loaded the bases, reliever Franklin Morales retired Valencia on a popup.