Red Sox Live Blog: Game Officially Called, Sox Win 7-1
3:09 p.m.: It's official, the game is over. The Red Sox come away with a 7-1 win and a series split. They'll now head to Tampa Bay.
2:57 p.m.: The tarp is back on the infield. That could be a bad sign for any fans who opted to stick around throughout the delay.
2:43 p.m.: There is some activity on the field. The tarp has been peeled off the infield, and crews are working on the infield. They could just be preparing it to be covered up again ... or they could be trying to get the field playable. We should know soon.
2:33 p.m.: Still no word on this game. The forecast does not look any better, so there's no real reason why they're taking this long to call the game.
Middle 7th, 7-1 Red Sox: The tarp is indeed out on the field, and the rain is falling steadily. Both the Sox and Orioles are traveling today, and this game is pretty well in hand for Boston. I wouldn't expect this delay to last too long. I think it'll get called sooner than later.
Middle 7th, 1 out, 7-1 Red Sox: Tazawa got Lavarnway to fly out after allowing a leadoff single to Flaherty, and that ended the day for Tazawa.
Robbie Ross Jr. entered in his place, and it took him just two pitches to get out of the inning. Everth Cabrera grounded to first base, and Mike Napoli tagged the bag and threw to second base to get Flaherty. Bogaerts applied the tag, and the inning was over.
The tarp is being rolled out. This one may be over soon...
End 6th, 7-1 Red Sox: Ryan Hanigan's been hit by two pitches today -- once in this inning -- and he also caught a foul ball in the legs earlier, but that didn't stop him from getting on his horse and hustling around the bases to score all the way from first base on a two-out double by Dustin Pedroia.
Hanigan's hustle resulted in that Sox lead stretching to 6-1. Garcia then intentionally walked David Ortiz after falling behind in the count, and Craig sent a single back over second base to plate Pedroia.
Napoli grounded out to end the inning, but the Sox made the likelihood of a Baltimore comeback even less likely with two runs that inning.
Middle 6th, 5-1 Red Sox: With hundreds (thousands?) of empty red seats glistening in the rain, Tazawa worked a quick and effective sixth inning. Davis popped out to center, Snider popped out foul and Machado struck out swinging. The Orioles aren't exactly showing tremendous fight this morning/afternoon.
End 5th, 5-1 Red Sox: Garcia got the job done, getting Victorino to pop out to the mound and Holt to ground out to second base.
Onto the sixth they go. Justin Masterson's day is done, though. Junichi Tazawa is on to pitch the sixth. Here are the final lines for the starters today.
Masterson: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 6 SO, 1 ER
Chen: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 5 BB, 3 SO, 5 R, 0 ER
Bottom 5th, 5-1 Red Sox: A one-out walk of Napoli ends the day for Chen. He threw 95 pitches, allowed three hits and walked five batters. Though three errors (one being Lavarnway's, one his own, one Machado's) didn't help him, he allowed five runs (none earned).
Jason Garcia enters the game with one on and one out in the fifth.
Middle 5th, 5-1 Red Sox: It's official -- this game counts.
De Aza battles Masterson and eventually walked with one out and stole second, but Paredes struck out swinging and Jones grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
With that, the game became official, so if the rain rolls in and ends the game early, it will count.
In the meanwhile, Craig-Napoli-Victorino are due up in the bottom of the fifth.
End 4th, 5-1 Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia smoked a line drive single up the middle with one on and one out, but Ortiz followed it up by grounding into a double play to end the inning.
That's not the worst thing for the Red Sox, with the uncertain weather forecast. This game becomes official if Masterson can get three more outs.
Middle 4th, 5-1 Red Sox: With rain on its way to Boston, the Red Sox really needed a quick inning from Masterson there. And he delivered, getting Machado (L9), Flaherty (3U) and Lavarnway (K) to go down in order.
The forecasts do have the heavy rain falling well west of Boston, but for safety's sake, the Sox need to get through the top of the fifth in order to feel comfortable.
End 3rd, 5-1 Red Sox: The Sox are once again on top, thanks to Wei-Yin Chen losing his command -- and fielding ability.
With two on and nobody out (Bogaerts walk, Hanigan single), Mookie Betts sent a grounder back to the mound. Bogaerts -- at third base -- was able to score after Chen bobbled the ball and then fumbled it while trying to pick it off the ground. It was such a bad play that not only was Bogaerts able to score, but Betts was able to beat the throw to first base as well.
Following a Pedroia sac bunt and an Ortiz popout to third, Allen Craig stepped up for his first plate appearance of the day. He was able to work a walk, loading the bases for Napoli. The first baseman then worked a walk of his own on just five pitches, bringing home Hanigan.
The ugly inning then got much worse for Baltimore when Manny Machado made a poor play on a Victorino chopper. The third baseman let it bounce off his glove, allowing two runs to score.
That brought up Holt with two runners in scoring position, and Chen then walked Holt -- the fourth walk of the inning.
With the bases juiced, up stepped Bogaerts for his second appearance of the inning. Bogaerts popped out to first base, but the damage was done thanks to a sloppy, ugly inning from Chen and Machado.
Chen's pitch count climbed to 65 in that inning, as he needed 38 pitches to get through the third.
Bottom 3rd, 1-1: The word on Hanley Ramirez is that he left the game due to "illness." It's hard to guess what that would really entail, so we'll just leave it at that.
Middle 3rd, 1-1: Alejandro De Aza entered today having had some pretty good success against Masterson, but he opted to try to bunt his way on to start the third. Unfortunately for him, he bunted right back to the mound, and Masterson made the easy throw to first.
Paredes then belted a fastball out to the warning track in right field, resulting in a ground-rule double, but Jones then flew out to center.
Davis worked a walk, as Masterson kept the ball far away from the lefty power-hitter, bringing up Snider for a two-on, two-out situation.
Yet Masterson got Snider to send a chopper to Pedroia, who threw over to first for the final out of the inning.
Despite a fastball that's topping out at 90 mph, Masterson has worked himself out of a couple of jams early on. That slider is the real deal this morning.
Top 3rd, 1-1: This is not entirely promising -- Hanley Ramirez has left the game. He's been replaced by Allen Craig.
Ramirez grounded out in his lone at-bat today. There's no word yet on why he was taken out of the lineup, but as soon as it's known, I will let you know.
End 2nd, 1-1: If MLB wants to increase pace of play, maybe the league should have more games played at 11 a.m. with a questionable weather forecast. Because this game is cruising.
The Sox just went down 1-2-3, thanks to Chris Davis making a very impressive over-the-shoulder catch in right field to rob Mike Napoli of a bloop single. Victroino then struck out, followed by Holt flying out to left.
Chen has needed 27 pitches to get through two innings. Masterson has thrown 35. Onto the third they go.
Middle 2nd, 1-1: So much for the lead.
Travis Snider led off the inning with what should have been a base hit, but Mookie Betts took a bad angle on the ball and let it get past him. The ball rolled all the way to the center field wall, allowing Snider to casually jog all the way to third base.
Manny Machado lined out to shortstop in the next at-bat, but Ryan Flaherty then belted a double off the Monster to drive in the run. Flaherty is now 6-for-9 with two doubles and a home run against Masterson. Justin might want to pitch around him if he sees him again today.
Masterson then got Lavarnway to chase a slider for strike three (Masterson's slider looks like it's moving about 10 feet today), before Everth Cabrera sent a chopper to shortstop (on a slider). Bogaerts' throw was well short, but Napoli made a nice scoop for the final out.
Bottom 1st, 1-0 Red Sox: It wasn't quite "Mookie Magic" the way it was on Fenway's opening day, but the rookie nevertheless made everything happen that inning.
He led off with a slap single into right field before stealing second base on the first pitch to Dustin Pedroia. Lavarnway's throw went wide right, and Betts took off for third. He made it in easily.
Though Pedroia ended up striking out, Ortiz hit a fly ball to right field that was plenty deep enough to score Betts on a sacrifice fly.
Ramirez then grounded out to end the inning, but not before the Sox jumped out to an early lead.
Middle 1st, 0-0: Given that pitchers are creatures of habit (even more so than the rest of us), you never know how they'll come out in an 11 a.m. start. Yet Masterson looked sharp early, bookending the first inning with swinging strikeouts by De Aza and Davis. In between, Paredes rolled out to second base and Adam Jones worked a walk.
Top 1st, 0-0: Justin Masterson's first pitch is a ball outside, and this one is officially underway at Fenway.
10:56 a.m.: The teams are on the field for pregame ceremonies, with the Red Sox wearing their "BOSTON" home jerseys.
10:31 a.m.: Here's the Orioles lineup that will be facing Justin Masterson:
1. Alejandro De Aza LF
2. Jimmy Paredes DH
3. Adam Jones CF
4. Chris Davis 1B
5. Travis Snider RF
6. Manny Machado 3B
7. Ryan Flaherty 2B
8. Ryan Lavarnway C
9. Everth Cabrera SS
9:27 a.m.: The Sox lineup is out. Here's what it's looking like:
1. Mookie Betts CF
2. DUstin Pedroia 2B
3. David Ortiz DH
4. Hanley Ramirez LF
5. Mike Napoli 1B
6. Shane Victorino RF
7. Brock Holt 3B
8. Xander Bogaerts SS
9. Ryan Hanigan C
9 a.m.: Good morning on one of the most festive days of the year at Fenway Park -- the annual Patriots' Day morning matinee.
Though it's far from a beautiful day at the ballpark, with some rain in the area and gray skies above, it does look like the weather gods will cooperate to let this game - or at least most of this game -- be played.
When the game does start shortly after 11 a.m., it'll be Justin Masterson on the hill for Boston. He'll be looking to rebound from an ugly showing against the Washington Nationals last week, when he allowed seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Masterson will be opposed by Wei-Yin Chen, who has a 4.35 ERA in his two starts this season.
We'll have updates right here throughout the morning, as well as analysis throughout the entire game. The Sox will be looking to even the series while the Orioles will be looking to send an early-season message to an AL East rival by taking three of four on the road.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
