So far, the Orioles' pivotal showdown against the Boston Red Sox hasn't gone as planned.
The Sox easily dispatched the O's for the second straight game, riding Mookie Betts' three-homer night to a 6-2 victory May 31 after breezing to a 7-2 win during the series opener May 30. The Sox all but clinched the victory during the first two innings of the game, pouncing on O's righty Kevin Gausman for five early runs and cruising from there. The Orioles' loss was their seventh during their past nine games.
Gausman's game could hardly have gotten off to a worse start. Two batters in, he had coughed up two home runs, with Betts crushing his second pitch over the center-field wall and Dustin Pedroia parking his fifth pitch into the left-field seats. The back-to-back blasts gave the Red Sox an instant lead that -- as it turned out -- they never relinquished. For good measure, though, Boston tacked on three more runs in the second. Gausman created a mess for himself by walking two batters -- including the No. 9 hitter, .235-hitting catcher Christian Vazquez -- to put two runners aboard for Betts, who snuck a three-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole.
