masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgBOSTON – A team hitting the road shouldn’t expect to keep getting punched in the mouth. Not this many times in a row.
The Orioles have lost 13 consecutive games away from Camden Yards to tie the club record set during their historic 0-21 start in 1988. As if we need another link to the inglorious past.
No team had lost 13 straight on the road since the Braves from Aug. 11-Sept. 6, 2015.
Last night marked the Orioles’ seventh straight loss to the Red Sox dating back to last season, their…

BOSTON – A team hitting the road shouldn’t expect to keep getting punched in the mouth. Not this many times in a row.

The Orioles have lost 13 consecutive games away from Camden Yards to tie the club record set during their historic 0-21 start in 1988. As if we need another link to the inglorious past.

No team had lost 13 straight on the road since the Braves from Aug. 11-Sept. 6, 2015.

Last night marked the Orioles’ seventh straight loss to the Red Sox dating back to last season, their longest streak since 2011. Their four straight losses at Fenway Park are the most since they dropped six in a row from Sept. 22, 2010-July 10, 2011.

The five stolen bases by the Red Sox are the most allowed by the Orioles since the Nationals swiped five on June 8, 2017.

Kevin Gausman hadn’t surrendered a stolen base in eight starts. No one made an attempt on him. But the Red Sox ran with wild abandon.

They made it look a little too easy, as Gausman noted after the game.

gausman-back-gray-sidebar.jpg“I thought it was weird that two of the three times they stole on me, I was picking,” Gausman said. “It kind of raises some eyebrows as to how they knew and those types of things, but that’s all on me. It’s one of the things that we can control.”

Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts took off early, getting almost halfway to second base before Gausman spun and threw to first. I can’t recall seeing it happen twice in the same inning.

It certainly did appear that they knew Gausman wasn’t going to throw a pitch.

Manager Buck Showalter pointed out that Gausman needed to step off the rubber instead of attempting a pickoff throw with no chance at getting the out. Fool me once …

Plate umpire Tony Randazzo wasn’t a popular figure on the visiting side. He wasn’t giving Gausman the strikes that the right-hander felt he earned. Red Sox left-hander David Price, meanwhile, went the distance on 95 pitches.

Price owns a Cy Young Award and two runner-up finishes, but Gausman deserves some respect, which Showalter also noted while standing outside the visiting clubhouse.

“Kevin’s got a bubblegum card, too,” Showalter said. “Those pitches, I’m very biased, but I didn’t think he got a fair shake tonight.”

Gausman threw 36 pitches in the first inning, Price only 11 in the first and nine in the second. Someone ordered the combo platter – Randazzo’s small strike zone, Price’s skill and the Orioles’ free-swinging ways.

Trey Mancini worked Price for seven pitches before striking out to lead off the game. Adam Jones flied out on the next pitch and Manny Machado struck out on three. Price retired the side in order on nine pitches in the eighth to leave his count at a whopping 80.

The day began with the shocking demotion of catcher Caleb Joseph to Triple-A Norfolk. The bold assumption that he’d get most of the starts this season didn’t factor in his .182/.203/.325 slash line and only four of 19 runners thrown out attempting to steal.

Maybe it’s the timing that made jaws drop, since Joseph had hit safely in six of his last seven games and was 7-for-25. But his defense had slipped and maybe his slow start at the plate impacted his work behind it. I got that sense while the move was explained.

Andrew Susac will start again tonight against Red Sox left-hander Drew Pomeranz. He doubled in the ninth inning last night before Machado’s 419-foot home run with two outs ruined Price’s bid for a shutout.