Steven Wright Tosses 3rd Complete Game, Red Sox Beat Orioles 7-2
BALTIMORE -- Xander Bogaerts had two doubles and two RBIs, Blake Swihart had three hits and Steven Wright allowed two runs in a complete-game effort as the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 Monday before a Memorial Day crowd of 43,926.
Jackie Bradley broke a tie with a solo homer to center in the sixth off starter Tyler Wilson (2-4) to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.
David Ortiz hit a solo homer to lead off the eighth against rookie lefty Ashur Tolliver as Boston built the margin to 4-2. It was the 14th homer of the year for Ortiz.
Marco Hernandez hit his first career homer in the eighth, a three-run shot off Mychal Givens, as Boston upped the lead to 7-2.
The Red Sox (31-20) are now two games ahead of the Orioles (28-21) in the American League East.
Wright (5-4) fanned seven as he entered the day with a 2.52 ERA, the fifth-best mark in the American League. He has thrown a complete gate in his last three road starts.
The Orioles scored two runs in the fifth to tie the game at 2-2. Ryan Flaherty had a run-scoring double for just his second RBI of the year, and Chris Davis had a sacrifice fly.
Bogaerts extended his hitting streak to 23 games with an RBI double in the third. That gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. The Red Sox stole a run in the first to take a 1-0 lead.
Mookie Betts (two runs) led off with a single and went to second on a groundout. Bogaerts then hit a ball in front of the plate and was thrown out by catcher Caleb Joseph at first, but Betts kept running around third and scored as Wilson was slow to cover the plate.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter argued with home plate umpire Laz Diaz that Bogaerts hit the ball off his foot, but the play stood as Bogaerts was credited with an RBI.
Baltimore left the bases loaded in the second. Joseph, with no RBIs this year in 66 at-bats, grounded out with the sacks full to end the frame.
Wilson allowed eight hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings before Tolliver took over in the seventh. Bogaerts was thrown out stealing, after a replay review, for the third out with Ortiz at the plate in the seventh. Betts also had two hits for the Red Sox, who entered the day with a MLB-high 295 runs.
NOTES: Orioles RHP Kevin Gausman (0-2, 3.24 ERA) is slated to face Boston LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, scheduled to make his first start of the year, on Tuesday. Rodriguez came up through the Orioles' system before he was traded to the Red Sox in 2014. ... Boston DH David Ortiz, who was scratched with a sore left foot Sunday, was in the starting lineup Monday and entered the game with a .339 average and 13 homers and 46 RBIs. ... Orioles manager Buck Showalter said SS J.J. Hardy hopes to have a CAT scan by Friday and if all goes well he could resume baseball activities. Hardy (left foot fracture) went on the 15-day disabled list May 3. ... The Red Sox now have a two-game lead in the American League East over the Orioles.