It was Friday. And in the 13th inning, a black cat might as well have circled around the Orioles infield. One errant throw gave Boston the lead.
The second one gave them the game ? and Orioles fans a cue to exit.
Boston used three errors, a passed ball and two singles to score three unearned runs in the top of the 13th inning in a 5-2 win before an announced sell-out crowd of 46,199 fans at Oriole Park at Camden Yards Friday.
The Orioles (26-27) fall to last place, six games behind division-leading Tampa Bay ? which defeated Chicago, 2-1, Friday night. The Orioles are 2-3 in extra-inning games, and 12-9 in one-run affairs. Boston (33-24) stays one game off Tampa Bay?s pace in the American League East.
The weather was perfect, both starting pitchers threw well, and there was enough late-inning drama to make anyone forget how the game even began.
Josh Beckett went six strong innings, issuing just four hits and three walks to go with ten strikeouts. His biggest mistake was the fourth-inning pitch Aubrey Huff deposited 390 feet later in the Eutaw Street Reserve bleachers in right-center.
Huff?s shot brought the Orioles even after Boston?s two-run first inning.
After Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a hustle double to left, and Dustin Pedroia bunted him to third, David Ortiz singled to right-center past a shifted infield for a 1-0 Boston lead.
Boston opted to play small ball early, perhaps sensing what lay ahead. But the Red Sox execution was lacking, and a squeeze play with one out in the second ended with Coco Crisp being cut down between third and home.
Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera looked shaky in the first, but settled down to pitch six shutout innings from the second through the seventh, leaving a tie game after 113 pitches.
The bullpen tossed five shutout innings through the 12th, but Boston took advantage of Melvin Mora?s air-mailed throw to first with one out in the 13th.
Mora?s throw on Manny Ramirez?s grounder allowed the mercurial outfielder to take second. He?d score on Mike Lowell?s single to left, and Boston would add another two runs courtesy of shortstop Freddie Bynum?s errant throw to first.
All three runs were charged to submarining right-hander Chad Bradford (2-2) ? none of the runs were earned.
There wasn?t enough Oriole Magic left in the tank in the bottom of the 13th.
Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon set down the Orioles in order for his 15th save.
The Orioles had runners 90 feet away on two occasions in extra innings, but with 14 runners left on base, the Orioles
Boston ran wild on Ramon Hernandez, swiping a club record six bases, to rub salt in Hernandez?s 0-for-5 offensive wound.
All that hurt, and it took a swift 4 hours and 49 minutes ? the longest game of the year.
Sean Welsh is the Orioles beat writer for The Examiner. He can be reached at [email protected]
