Saturday June 25 at the Red Sox

Opponent: Boston Red Sox
Outcome: L
Score: 3-10
Streak: L1
Record: 20-53
Rank: 7th
GB: 25

You wouldn't know it from the final score but this game was actually close until the bottom of the eighth.  For the fourth game in row the Orioles got on the board in the top of the first.  Pete Stanicek led off the game with a single and two batters later Cal Ripken hit a home run (his twelfth of the season) to put the Birds up 2-0.

The Red Sox came back in the bottom of the third.  With one out Wade Boggs and Marty Barrett hit back to back singles and Dwight Evans followed with a ground rule double that scored Boggs.  A Mike Greenwell sacrifice fly brought Barrett in to tie the game up and an Ellis Burks single brought Evans in with the go-ahead run.

But the lead was short lived as Eddie Murray led off the fourth inning with a solo home run, his tenth of the year.  The score remained tied 3-3 through the next four innings.

It all fell apart for the Orioles in the bottom of the eighth.  Mark Williamson came on in relief of Orioles starter Mike Boddicker and promptly loaded the bases by giving up back-to-back singles to Evans and Greenwell and a walk to Burks.  Orioles manager Frank Robinson went back to the bullpen and brought Doug Sisk in to relieve Williamson.   Jim Rice greeted Sisk with a single that scored Evans and Greenwell.  After Todd Benzinger popped out for the first out of the inning, Rich Gedman singled to score Burks and move Kevin Romine (who had pinch run for Rice) to third.  Spike Owen then walked to load the bases again.  Boggs then singled to score Romine and Gedman but the Orioles got a break when Ken Gerhart threw out Owen trying to advance to third.  Marty Barrett, the ninth man to bat in the inning, then hit a single.  It looked like the Orioles were going to get out of the inning when Evans hit a grounder to Cal Ripken at short stop but Ripken booted the ball, allowing Evans to reach and reloading the bases for the third time in the inning.  Greenwell hit his second single of the inning that knocked in Boggs and Barrett with two unearned runs.  Finally Sisk got Burks to hit a ground ball to short stop that Cal fielded and threw to first in time to get the third out.  But the Sox sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs on seven hits, two walks and an error.  The score was now 10-3 in favor of the Red Sox and after the Orioles went quietly in the ninth that became the final score.