During the first two games of the series against the Orioles, the Red Sox weren't catching many breaks. But in Thursday's 6-3 win, they finally capitalized on the opportunities that had been eluding them.
It all started with Orioles starter Chris Tillman's wild pitch in the second inning, a miscue that occurred with two outs. Pedro Ciriaco and Scott Podsednik followed it by stringing together two consecutive hits to knock in Nick Punto.
Then, in the fifth inning, Tillman did it again. With Carl Crawford on third and Dustin Pedroia on second, the hurler tossed another wild pitch with Adrian Gonzalez at bat that triggered a two-run rally in the fifth.
"We need to go, everyone in that clubhouse knows that," Cody Ross told reporters in Baltimore. "Hopefully, this will get us some momentum going into New York. You just go up and try to do something productive. We had big innings, guys getting on and you don't want to kill the rally."
With the exception of Jacoby Ellsbury and Nick Punto, every hitter in the starting lineup collected a hit. Five batters also tallied multiple hits as the Red Sox offense churned out 13 base knocks in total.
The only downside for Boston was that Ellsbury's 0-for-4 night snapped his 38-game hitting streak against the Orioles. It was the longest hitting streak that a Red Sox player has carried against an organization. Still, it was a good night for the Sox attack.
"When everyone can contribute top to bottom, you have a good offense," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said after the game. "When they had an opportunity to drive in some runs, they did."
On this night, the offense made the most of its chances.
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