Ryan O’Hearn went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run while Dean Kremer pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings as the Baltimore Orioles earned their second straight win over the Boston Red Sox with a 5-1 decision on Sunday afternoon.
The Orioles scored a single run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take the lead for good, with O’Hearn following up Dylan Carlson’s fifth-inning solo shot for Baltimore’s second homer in as many innings in the sixth.
Kremer (4-5) struck out four and scattered seven hits in his start.
Jarren Duran was 4-for-5 from the top of the lineup for Boston, which left nine runners on base. Carlos Narvaez, rookie Marcelo Mayer and Abraham Toro each had two hits.
After stranding two in the first inning and grounding into a 4-6-3 double play to end the second, Baltimore scratched across an opening run after Gunnar Henderson drew a leadoff walk against Boston starter Walker Buehler (4-2) in the fourth.
Henderson then went first-to-third on O’Hearn’s ground ball single to right before crossing the plate for a 1-0 lead on a Ramon Urias sacrifice fly to center.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox could not convert on several opportunities to get on the scoreboard, leaving two on base after Duran’s leadoff singles in both the first and third innings. In the fourth, Toro dropped a one-out double down the right-field line but was stranded on third.
Baltimore extended its lead using the long ball, making it 2-0 when Carlson hit a solo shot toward the right-field pole in the fifth for his first homer of the season.
After Greg Weissert recorded the first out in relief of Buehler in the sixth, O’Hearn carried another fly out to right-center and into the bullpen for a 3-0 Baltimore lead.
Two relay throwing errors on O’Hearn’s double to the right-center wall allowed Baltimore to tally twice in the eighth.
Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela’s throw hit O’Hearn standing on second base and kicked away on the infield, bringing Henderson in to score. Mayer then picked up the ball and sailed a throw over third to help O’Hearn circle the bases.
Mayer — who was playing in his second career MLB game — doubled and scored on a Toro RBI single to center in the home half of the ninth to avoid the shutout.
Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman was taken out of the game after being hit in the mask by a foul ball off the bat of Boston’s Rafael Devers in the third inning.
