Casas hits 3-run homer, Red Sox beat Orioles 7-3 to avoid sweep
By Ken Powtak, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Triston Casas hit a three-run homer and the Boston Red Sox averted a three-game sweep with a rain-delayed 7-3 victory over AL-best Baltimore on Sunday that halted the Orioles' seven-game winning streak.
Reese McGuire added an RBI triple and Rafael Devers a run-scoring single for the Red Sox, who stopped their four-game losing streak. Boston is six games behind Seattle for the last AL wild card, also trailing Texas by 5 1/2 games.
Closing in on their first playoff berth since 2016 and looking for their first division title in nine years, the Orioles lead second-place Tampa Bay by three games in the AL East.
Adam Frazier had a two-run triple for Baltimore, which finished a 7-2 trip.
After a 42-minute delay at the start, much of the game was played in light rain, and there was a 1:28 delay with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
With Boston leading 4-3 in the sixth, Casas sent a cut fastball from Cole Irvin into the first row of seats above the Green Monster for his 24th homer. Ceddanne Rafaela reached when he grounded into a forceout, and Rafael Devers' grounder went through first baseman Ryan O'Hearn's legs for an error.
A day after getting 23 hits in a 13-12 loss, the Red Sox wiped out a 3-0 deficit with two runs in each of the third and fourth innings against Grayson Rodriguez (5-4).
Brayan Bello (12-8) worked five innings, giving up three runs and seven hits.
Boston's runs in the third scored when third baseman Ramón Urías tried to backhand Trevor Story's medium-speed grounder and the ball rolled under his glove and into the left-field corner for a two-base error.
McGuire tripled into the center-field triangle in the fourth and scored on Devers' infield single off Urías' glove on a hard liner.
Baltimore went ahead 3-0 in the second when Frazier tripled after Aaron Hicks' RBI single.
NICE GRAB
Rafaela made a long run before making a leaping catch at the base of the center-field wall on Anthony Santander's drive in the third inning.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Red Sox: LHP James Paxton went on the 15-day IL with right knee inflammation, ending his season. He went 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 19 starts. … RHP Garrett Whitlock was reinstated from bereavement list and pitched two hitless innings.
UP NEXT
Orioles: RHP Dean Kremer (12-5, 4.07 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener of a three-game interleague series against St. Louis on Monday. RHP Dakota Hudson (6-1, 4.43) is set for the Cardinals.
Red Sox: RHP Kutter Crawford (6-7, 4.36) is slated to start the first of a four-game series against the Yankees at Fenway Park Monday. RHP Clarke Schmidt (9-8, 4.54) is in line for New York. Boston has gone 8-1 against the Yankees this season, as they face each other looking to avoid finishing last in the AL East.
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