Boston Red Sox vs Baltimore Orioles Match Player Stats On Aug 23, 2020

Rio Ruiz drove in four runs, and Thomas Eshelman threw 4 1/3 hitless innings in relief as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the visiting Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Sunday afternoon.

Eshelman came on after starter Wade LeBlanc needed to leave after 14 pitches with an apparent left elbow issue. He gave up a leadoff home run to Kevin Pillar, got two outs, and walked Sander Bogaerts before Eshelman entered. He walked Christian Vazquez but struck out Michael Chavis to end the inning.

The Orioles pulled out a split of the four-game series after dropping the first two to the Red Sox.

After Bogaerts' walk, LeBlanc signaled to the dugout -- as did catcher Pedro Severino -- that something was wrong. Manager Brandon Hyde brought in Eshelman, who can start or pitch long.

The Orioles needed him long this time, and he delivered in a big way. Eshelman (2-0) did not give up a hit or a run. He fanned two and walked one.

Boston starter Zack Godley (0-3) struggled in his 2 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on two hits, walking five and striking out three.

Trailing 1-0, the Orioles took the lead with a three-run third. The first two came in on a single by Ruiz. Andrew Velazquez then dropped a perfect bunt down the third-base line that the Red Sox couldn't do much about, and another run scored for a 3-1 lead.

Bogaerts cut the lead to 3-2 on his sixth-inning double for Boston. But Ruiz came through again in the seventh. Right after the Orioles lost Severino to a reported hip flexor injury, Ruiz lined a two-run double over Pillar's head in left.

The Boston outfield had been playing in, and Pillar simply could not get a good jump on Ruiz's line drive. It turned into a two-run double and a 5-2 lead.

Tanner Scott came on to get the final out in the ninth, but not before he gave up a two-run homer to Jackie Bradley Jr. to cut the lead to 5-4. After a single by Jonathan Arauz, Scott closed out his first major league save by getting Pillar on a force out two batters later.

Anthony Santander of Baltimore kept his hitting streak going with a fourth-inning double. His 18-game string is the team's longest since Nick Markakis also went for 18 straight in 2014, according to MASNsports.

--Field Level Media