Red Sox 3, Orioles 2

 

The Sox sweep the Orioles in Baltimore and win their fourth straight game. Boston returns to Fenway after a 7-1 road trip going back to the series in New York.

Last night, Story homered in the first, Refsnyder homered in the fourth, and González hit an RBI single in the eighth. Crochet got seven strike outs over six innings but gave up two runs and didn't get the win (it went to reliever Jordan Hicks), so his total is still at 14 with 26 games left to the season. He could still get six more starts this season to try and reach 20 wins, but he'll have to win every game started.

The Blue Jays were idle last night, so Boston snuck up to 3½ games back from first place.

Tonight, the Sox start a three-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates (59-76). With starting pitchers Dick Fitts and Hunter Dobbins both on the Injured List, Cora will give rookie pitcher Payton Tolle his first start in his major-league debut. Good luck, man. The Pirates will start Paul Skenes (8-9. 2.07). This series is the first (and only) time this season the two teams have faced each other  

First-place Toronto starts a weekend series at home against the Milwaukee Brewers (83-52), so this series against Pittsburgh is a chance for the Red Sox to gain some ground in the standings before things get crazy next month. The third-place Yankees (damn, I love saying that) have it far easier with a series at the Chicago White Sox (48-86), so the pressure from behind will continue as New York continues to nip at Boston's heels.