BOSTON (AP) — Pinch hitter Mike Carp’s bloop single to left in the eighth inning dropped just beyond the glove of Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado, scoring Jarrod Saltalamacchia from second base with the tiebreaking run and lifting the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 win over the Orioles on Wednesday night.
Shane Victorino drove in a run for Boston with an RBI single after collecting a career-best seven RBIs and hitting two homers in a 13-2 win on Tuesday night. Craig Breslow (4-2) got two outs to earn the win and Koji Uehara got his 14th save with a perfect ninth for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who won their fourth straight.
Chris Davis hit his major league-leading 47th homer and added an RBI double for Baltimore, which lost for the sixth time in its last eight games.
Saltalamacchia hit a two-out double high off the left-field wall against Tommy Hunter (3-3) and Stephen Drew was walked intentionally before Carp’s bloop fell just past the glove off Machado in short left field.
The Red Sox rallied against Baltimore’s bullpen, tying it 3-3 on Dustin Pedroia’s two-run single off Darren O’Day in the seventh. Jacoby Ellsbury barely beat center fielder Adam Jones’ throw to the plate, sliding in before a sweeping tag attempt by Matt Wieters.
Ellsbury left the game for a defensive replacement in the top of the eighth. During his seventh inning at-bat, he fouled a ball off his right foot.
With the Orioles leading 2-1 in the sixth, Davis belted a leadoff homer into Boston’s bullpen.
The Orioles had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on Davis’ RBI double into the right-field corner after Machado singled. They made it 2-0 in the third on Machado’s homer over the Green Monster.
Baltimore starter Bud Norris held Boston to one run and four hits, striking out seven and walking four over 5 1-3 innings. He lost to the Red Sox when he was with Houston on April 28, giving up five runs in six innings.
Boston’s John Lackey lasted 7 1-3 innings, giving up three runs, seven hits, striking out four and walking one.
The Red Sox cut it to 2-1 on Victorino’s RBI single in the third, but they left the bases loaded when David Ortiz struck out swinging and Daniel Nava was called out on strikes.
Ortiz, mired in a 0-for-18 slump, flew out to the left-field track twice in four at-bats. After the second one, which was caught in the corner for the final out of the fifth, he stood at first base for a while, looking toward the outfield before slowly walking to the dugout and slamming his helmet.
NOTES: Orioles DH Wilson Betemit made his first start of the season after being sidelined since late March with a sprained right knee ligament and went 0 for 3. … Ellsbury stole two bases, leaving him one short of 50 for the third time in his career. … Boston manager John Farrell said RHP Clay Buchholz, on the DL since early June with a strained neck, will make his second rehab start Friday, pitching for Triple-A Pawtucket, and his third start “could be” in the majors. … The Orioles recalled touted prospect Kevin Gausman from Triple-A Norfolk before the game and optioned left-hander Wei-Yin Chen to their Gulf Coast League affiliate. Manager Buck Showalter said “service time” allowed the club to send Chen to Sarasota, Fla. He’s scheduled to make his next start Sunday at New York against the Yankees. “Initially, I think he was thinking because he had a bad start last night that we were sending him to the Gulf Coast League,” Showalter said. “That wasn’t the case at all. His service time allowed us to send him there. He understands.” … The umpires who worked the game — Marvin Hudson, Wally Bell, Tim McClelland and Marty Foster — visited Boston’s Children’s Hospital earlier in the day as part of the UMPS CARE Charities. … RHP Chris Tillman (14-4, 3.66 ERA) goes in the series finale against Boston LHP Jon Lester (12-7, 3.97 ERA). … Family members of MIT Police officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed by the Boston Marathon bombers, threw out ceremonial first pitches.