Baltimore Orioles vs Boston Red Sox Box Score on Apr 03, 2021

Maikel Franco drove in two runs, and teammates Anthony Santander and Trey Mancini each added an RBI as the visiting Baltimore Orioles defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Saturday afternoon. The Orioles now have taken the first two games of this weekend's series with Boston, and they did it the same way each time -- using timely hitting and good pitching.

Matt Harvey started and gave up two runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings in his Baltimore debut. Harvey was effective but faded a bit in the fifth, and the bullpen took charge after that. Adam Plutko (1-0) came on and threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings, earning the victory.

Dillon Tate took care of the eighth before Cesar Valdez closed it for his second save in two days. Valdez escaped a two-on, no-out jam to lock up the victory. Baltimore's bullpen threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings.

Boston starter Tanner Houck (0-1) -- who went five innings and gave up three runs (two earned) but fanned eight -- kept the Orioles quiet into the fourth when they scored twice on a two-out rally. Houck retired the first two batters before the Red Sox helped out with an error and a passed ball that put runners on second and third.

Franco then grounded a two-run single to center that gave Baltimore a 2-0 lead. Boston cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of that fourth inning on a Marwin Gonzalez sacrifice fly -- the first run the team scored this season.

The Orioles then stretched the lead to 3-1 in the fifth when Santander added an RBI infield single that shortstop Xander Bogaerts couldn't quite handle deep in the hole.

Boston then made it 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Martinez hit a hard grounder that bounced off of Harvey and toward first baseman Mancini. He had no chance to get Martinez at first, and Kevin Plawecki scored all the way from second.

Mancini then gave the Orioles some insurance with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly that made it 4-2. The Red Sox missed a number of chances, going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

--Field Level Media