The Baltimore Orioles might have taken a big step toward establishing the momentum that has been lacking over the past few weeks. The Boston Red Sox had a chance to do the same but were stymied. Those Wednesday finishes set up the teams for a meeting Thursday in Baltimore, where the American League East rivals will start a four-game series.
Baltimore snapped a two-game skid by defeating the visiting Washington Nationals 4-1 on Wednesday. Since the All-Star break, the Orioles are 13-12, with a two-steps-forward, two-steps-backward vibe surrounding them. "It felt like a normal baseball game," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said about the win Wednesday.
"We haven't played many of them. I felt like, where we pitched really well, we were solid defensively. .
.. That was more of what I'd like to see.
" The Red Sox were going for a three-game sweep of the visiting Texas Rangers on Wednesday but fell 9-7 in 10 innings after leading 7-4 in the ninth. "We are still learning," Boston manager Alex Cora said. "We're still growing as a group.
That's not an excuse because we're better than that." Boston pitchers allowed four home runs to the Rangers on Wednesday. "You can talk about sloppiness," Cora said.
"We have to keep the ball in the ballpark. We haven't done that since the All-Star break." The Red Sox are 10-14 since then.
There were notables for the Orioles on Wednesday. Gunnar Henderson smashed his 30th home run of the season, and Coby Mayo recorded his first big-league hit -- a single..