I've decided to do the post-game wrap-up as no one else with front page privileges was watching the game, or at least they weren't posting in the gameday thread.
The Red Sox continued their dominance over Baltimore tonight by taking care of the O's in a fairly nonchalant manner.
After pitching a scoreless inning to start off the game, it looked like Eaton was on his game and might just be able to get through five or six innings and give the potent Baltimore offense a shot. Once the second inning began, though, it became evident that Eaton still stunk.
Although Boston only scored once in the second inning off of a Varitek double to right field, the Sox were smashing every ball coming out of Eaton's hand. In my opinion, it was only a matter of time until Ortiz, or any other slugger, found the sweet spot and blew the game open.While the O's continued to struggle offensively, the meat of Boston's order came through as both Ortiz and Pedroia reached base, setting the stage for Kevin Youklis. Youklis was able to work the count for a bit, but then he just launched a moonshot over the Green Monster and Boston took a commanding 5-0 lead in the fourth.
The following inning, the Sox were able to continue piling on as Youklis knocked in another run, this time driving home Ellsbury as the Sox led 6-0.
Eaton was pulled after the fourth after giving up six earned, and suddenly infused with a jolt of confidence, the O's loaded the bases with none down and Aubrey Huff at the plate. The horseman clanged a double off the Monster as the bases cleared and the O's closed the gap, trailing by only two runs with four innings to go.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventful; the O's stranded Wiggy on second after a leadoff single/steal, and JJ worked his way out of a bases loaded jam with a 3-2 count to Bay among other highlights.
In the ninth, Roberts was able to fit a ball through the hole between short and third, and Adam Jones was subsequently plunked on the elbow, placing runners on first and second with only one down. Both Markakis and Huff made Papelbon sweat for a bit, but ultimately, the closer from Baton Rogue finished off the O's once again.
On a separate note, Pie was almost as disappointing as the umpiring as Felix stranded runners on base and made numerous defensive mistakes.