BOSTON – Interim manager Tony Mansolino had a decision to make today with two runners on base and two outs in the fifth inning. The Orioles led by a run and Seranthony Domínguez was ready in the bullpen. Trevor Story stepped to the plate, Mansolino ignored the right-left matchup by sticking with Cade Povich, and a ground ball killed the rally.

Povich was pushed to 98 pitches and exited with only one run allowed. Mansolino had no choice now except to trust his bullpen. That decision was out of his hands.

The lead slipped through the Orioles fingers and shattered.

Ceddanne Rafaela delivered a game-tying single off Domínguez in the sixth, Jarren Duran followed with an RBI single off Gregory Soto and Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer. Devers finished with eight RBIs after his grand slam off infielder Emmanuel Rivera in a 13-run, 12-hit eighth that sent the Orioles to an embarrassing 19-5 loss in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Fenway Park.

Both teams used a position player to pitch, with the Red Sox giving Abraham Toro his first career experience in the ninth. The Orioles scored twice. At times, it resembled baseball.

“I think it’s part of the game now with the way things are," Mansolino said. "I don’t think any of us take it personally. I think what we’re trying to do is be smart and understand that we’ve got two games to play today and ideally we’d like to have as much pitching as we can in the second game."

Devers walloped a slider from Soto when the game hadn’t turned into a mockery, launching it 408 feet to right-center field at 108.1 mph. The Red Sox sent 18 batters to the plate in the eighth, and the Orioles (16-33) remain stuck on only two back-to-back wins this season. They’ve lost nine of 10 and 15 of 18.

Cionel Pérez allowed five runs in the eighth inning without recording an out, the last three on Rob Refsnyder’s shot over the Green Monster, and Rivera made his fifth career pitching appearance and first with the Orioles. He loaded the bases, walked Duran with two outs and surrendered a slam to Devers. Five more hits followed, with Boston showing no mercy. Rivera faced 13 batters and threw 45 pitches.

"By the rules of Major League Baseball we’re allowed to put in a position player," Mansolino said. "I think you kind of punt right there with the idea that you’ve got to have as many arms as you can in the second game. So it is what it is. We don’t take it personal. We’re just trying to be smart.”

Soto bent at the waist, hands on his knees, as Devers approached first base on the initial blast. He let two inherited runners score and his ERA grew to 4.67. Domínguez was charged with three runs and his ERA is 6.06. Pérez has an 8.31 ERA.

The bullpen cracked under pressure again and will be needed tonight in Game 2. Trevor Rogers was expected to start as the 27^th man, but Mansolino said, "We’re going to go work through it right now." Rogers didn’t pitch in spring training due to a partially dislocated right knee and will make his 2025 debut.

The Orioles loaded the bases against Justin Wilson with one out in the eighth and Ramón Urías greeted Justin Slaten with an RBI single that cut the lead to 6-3. Cedric Mullins struck out and Heston Kjerstad grounded out. And the Red Sox pummeled Pérez, who got a double play in the seventh after a leadoff walk but appeared to run out of gas and luck. Mullins nearly threw out Rafaela at the plate, but Adley Rutschman dropped the ball.

That wasn't the loudest thud.

“This is Major League Baseball," Mansolino said. "I think we’ve just got to move on. We know we have a second game, we know we’re going to try to win that game. I feel like they understand that we did what we had to do at that point in the game to try to win the second one”

Red Sox starter Brayan Bello had five strikeouts through two innings but allowed singles by Kjerstad, Jorge Mateo and Jackson Holliday to begin the third and fell behind 1-0. Mateo scored on Rutschman’s ground ball.

Gunnar Henderson walked, but Holliday broke too quickly for third base on an attempted steal and Bello threw him out.

Ryan O’Hearn and Urías began the fourth with singles and were stranded. Ryan Mountcastle led off the sixth with a single but couldn’t advance. Povich didn’t have much room to operate, but he struck out six in five innings, induced a season-high 14 whiffs and lowered his ERA to 4.86.

"I thought Cade threw the ball great," Mansolino said. "If you get through five against this lineup in this ballpark, I think you’ve got to be really pleased. ... I thought he battled, did a great job, got us into the sixth, basically, with the lead, 2-1, and we just weren’t able to get it done."

Povich tossed three scoreless innings with four strikeouts before the Red Sox pushed across a run in the fourth. Story’s leadoff walk came back to bite Povich after Carlos Narváez singled and Nick Sogard’s ground ball reduced the lead to 2-1. Alex Bregman singled and Refsnyder walked with two outs in the fifth, and they were the next Red Sox runners stranded to increase the total to seven.

Bregman came out of the game with right quadriceps tightness after making a wide turn at first base.

"Felt pretty good," Povich said. "Obviously got into some tough situations there a couple times, especially in the fifth, but was happy to be able to work through it and get out of it.

"Trying to keep the team in the game and give ‘em the best chance to win is what I’m really trying to do and what I feel like my job is. Majority of the time when I’m able to do that, the bullpen’s able to come in and shut ‘em down and we’re able to get a couple more runs. I think the majority of the time it works out better than it did today."

Plate umpire Doug Eddings did the usual check of Povich after the bottom of the second inning, but it lasted longer than usual. Mansolino and pitching coach Drew French joined the conversation, and they appeared to be talking about Povich’s movements from the stretch. Eddings eventually gave Povich a pat on the shoulder and walked away.

"He was just trying to help us out with the different hybrid windups and just trying to explain that when he starts his little step, because he’s not actually starting his windup, the clock doesn’t start at that point," Mansolino said. "So if he runs the clock down too far, it would be a problem. He was trying to help us."

Povich struck out three batters in the first inning but also put runners on base with two outs on Bregman’s walk and Refsnyder’s single. Kristian Campbell reached on Mateo’s error with two outs in the second, and Devers singled with one out in the third.

Kjerstad raced back to the warning track in the second and made a leaping catch to rob Narváez. Kjerstad’s glove cleared the fence but the ball might have hit the top of it. Either way, it was impressive.

In the decisive sixth, Kjerstad was unable to make a sliding catch of Sogard’s fly ball to right-center that went for a one-out double. Campbell walked, and three straight hits and the disastrous eighth ensured that the Orioles would remain without a doubleheader sweep since June 25, 2016.

"Seranthony comes in, gets the first-pitch out, good spot," Mansolino said. "Ball’s hit to right field, tough play for Kjerstad, big effort, doesn’t get it done, ball goes in. I think we get a couple guys with two strikes, unable to finish it off. They get some traffic, comes in Soto. We like the matchup with Soto against Duran and (Devers). We like Soto there. It was like fastball middle, maybe 0-1 or second pitch fastball middle. Duran gets on it, and then, it looks like his slider looked kind of backed up and Devers, who’s been doing it for quite a while now, hits it over the fence."

There's always tomorrow. For the Orioles, there's another game to play tonight, with the hope that they don't need to use another position player on the mound.

They allowed 13 or more runs in an inning for the second time in the divisional era (since 1969) after the 16 that scored on April 19, 1996 in Texas - also in the eighth inning.

“Of course, we kept it pretty close," Povich said. "Even in the seventh, we tagged on another run to bring it back within three. It just becomes difficult with it being a doubleheader. We need pitching tomorrow. That’s no my decision on stuff. In baseball, you have to look at stuff, pitching side and all that, it’s difficult to work around.

"I think we gave ourselves a great chance, and we fought. We just looked at the practical side, I think. We needed to have guys. I think we fought early, I think we threw a punch early. I think we kind of got punched before that last inning or two, we punched back. It’s still just a fight. We’ve got a lot of fight, and we’re going to continue to have it.”

Update: Game 2 has been postponed, and the teams will play a split doubleheader Saturday at 1:05 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.

The Orioles never posted their lineup or announced their starter. Rogers and Charlie Morton could start, with Zach Eflin going on Sunday, but it isn't official.

This is the fifth rainout.