Red Sox 7, Orioles 0
BOSTON -- The rather amazing resurgence of Rich Hill continued at Fenway Park on Friday night -- and ended with a rather amazing play.
The 35-year-old left-hander, who hails from nearby Milton, Ma., and is beginning his second tour with his hometown team, this time as a starter, pitched a two-hitter for his second major league shutout – his first in almost nine years -- in leading the Boston Red Sox to a 7-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
The game ended when right fielder Mookie Betts robbed first baseman Chris Davis of what would have been his 44th homer of the season with a man on.
Hill, who had last started in the major leagues in 2009, allowed a single to center fielder Nolan Reimold leading off the game and a leadoff infield single to right fielder Dariel Alvarez in the ninth.
He delivered his first shutout since pitching one for the Chicago Cubs in 2006 -- and it was the first shutout of the season for the last-place Red Sox (73-80).
Hill allowed one hit and no runs in his first start and three runs in seven innings in his second -- striking out 10 in both -- fanned 10 again and walked only one -- in raising his record to 2-0. That gives him 30 strikeouts and two walks in 23 innings.
Designated hitter David Ortiz collected three doubles and three RBIs as the Red Sox ended a three-game loss streak. The loss snapped the Orioles' three-game winning streak and dealt a blow to their long-shot wild card hopes.
They came into the game 11-4 in their last 15 and started play 3 1/2 games out of the second American League wild card slot and fell to 76-77.
Ortiz's two-run double highlighted a three-run sixth inning -- a play that saw second baseman Dustin Pedroia and shortstop Xander Bogaerts round third almost at the same time before both scored, a second apart.
Bogaerts, who had three hits a night after his 12-game hitting streak ended, had doubled home a run off loser Kevin Gausman (3-7) in the third inning and Brock Holt doubled home the third run of the sixth. He added an RBI infield single in the eighth.
Reimold led off the game with a single, but Davis grounded into a one-out double play to end the inning.
Hill struck out the side in the second inning, picked up another strikeout in the fourth and two more in the fifth, facing the minimum 15 batters over five innings.
Gausman worked a perfect first and pitched out of a jam created when Ortiz doubled leading off the second. Gausman used two strikeouts to help get out of the inning.
NOTES: A day after the Red Sox hired Mike Hazen as their new general manager, the club brought in former Atlanta Braves GM Frank Wren to serve as vice president of baseball operations and also named Brad Pearson head athletic trainer and Paul Buchheit as his assistant. New president Dave Dombrowski said he hopes to retain Jerry Dipoto as an adviser. ... Baltimore CF Adam Jones missed his fourth straight game with back spasms but was close to a return. ... LHP Zach Britton (left lat muscle) threw in the bullpen Friday and could return Saturday after missing less than a week. ... Veteran LHP Craig Breslow will make his first major league start when he faces Baltimore LHP Wei-Yin Chen on Saturday -- while Ubaldo Jimenez starts Sunday for the Orioles. ... Showalter said he was satisfied with the three-game suspension received by Washington's Jonathan Papelbon for throwing at Manny Machado. "I'm comfortable with the action they took," he said. "I'm not comfortable with the action (of Papelbon) "I'm comfortable with the action they took."