Mancini Has Majorly Memorable Night At Fenway Park
BOSTON -- The Baltimore Orioles said they felt they had something to prove after a dismal performance Tuesday in a blowout loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Safe to say they proved it.
"I think after last night, just the mood in the clubhouse, everybody was disappointed and I think we just ... we played such a sloppy game last night, especially defensively, and really didn't have much to show for it," Chris Davis said after hitting one of five Baltimore homers in the first three innings en route to a 17-hit attack and a 12-5 victory over the Red Sox on Wednesday night.
"I think tonight, going into the game, guys wanted to go back out there and get the momentum back in our dugout and try to come out with a win."
Trey Mancini hit two homers: a three-run shot off shelled starter Steven Wright and a solo liner off reliever Ben Taylor.
"It felt incredible, and it's something I'll remember my whole life," Mancini said. "It was a special night, for sure, and to be able to do it in a place like this is something I couldn't have imagined."
Mancini, a right-handed batter getting the start in left field over lefty-swinging Hyun Soo Kim against the knuckleballer, hit one of the four homers yielded by Wright (0-1) in 1 1/3 innings. Mancini hit his fifth homer in 29 major league plate appearances, off Taylor in the third.
Mancini, who has 10 RBIs in 10 big league games, and Jonathan Schoop went back-to-back in the first inning. Adam Jones and Chris Davis homered to chase Wright (0-1) in the second as Baltimore (5-2) built a 9-0 lead and went on to a split of the two-game series.
"I could tell walking about the locker room today our guys were frustrated about last night," manager Buck Showalter said. "They were looking forward to getting back out there and getting back to playing the type of baseball we're capable of and have to play."
Ubaldo Jimenez, 2-6 lifetime against the Red Sox, couldn't get through five innings for the win as Mychal Givens was summoned with the bases loaded in the fifth. Givens (2-0) gave up an RBI single -- one of Xander Bogaerts' three hits -- but pitched well into the seventh to keep the lead intact.
Welington Castillo doubled home two runs among his three hits and Schoop added an RBI single in a three-run seventh.
Baltimore hitters batted .129 against Wright in two starts -- both wins -- last season. No such problems this time.
Wright allowed more runs in this game than he did in four starts last April. It took until June 15 last year for him to give up four home runs.
"Inconsistent action to the knuckleball," Boston manager John Farrell said. "As we've seen before when that pitch has not got the violence in the strike zone, it can be some quick-strike offense against him, and that was the case tonight."
Said Wright: "It was terrible. I felt pretty good in the bullpen and then I came out and kind of shot myself in the foot with the first pitch of the game hitting Seth Smith and then after that they went into swing mode and the knuckleball just wasn't doing anything -- and they capitalized on it.
"It was probably one of my worst games, in terms of my knuckleball and stat line -- I think I gave up more home runs tonight than I did all of last year."
For the record, he gave up 12 last year, but you get the point.
Davis had a single and double to go with his homer, Mark Trumbo had an RBI single and two hits and Jones, J.J. Hardy and Schoop had two hits apiece. Schoop and Hardy came into the game 2-for-19 on the season.
Pablo Sandoval, who hit into a double play his first time up, hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning but also struck out with the bases loaded in the fifth, fouled out with two men on in the seventh and popped out with two men on to end the game.
Mitch Moreland had a seventh-inning double for Boston (4-4) -- his sixth straight game with a two-base hit.
