Orioles rally to tie but fall behind again in 4-3 loss (updated)

BOSTON – The division standings plastered on the lower left portion of the Green Monster weren’t updated when the Orioles arrived at the ballpark this afternoon or during the early rounds of the Red Sox’s batting practice session.

It wasn’t until later that the Orioles were shown to be tied with the Rays for third place rather than trailing by a half-game. Which also meant they were tied for the last wild card spot.

Important distinctions for the Orioles, even if the famed wall isn’t official.

The holdovers from past seasons are accustomed to the team being listed at the bottom, but the Red Sox have become tenants of the cellar.

There’s a new order in the East. Unfortunately for the Orioles, they learned that the Red Sox still have some of their old fight.

Terrin Vavra’s first major league triple scored two runs in the sixth inning, and he crossed the plate with the tying run on Austin Hays’ infield hit, but Boston regained the lead in the bottom half and held on for a 4-3 victory at Fenway Park.

J.D. Martinez walked with two outs, Nick Vespi replaced starter Dean Kremer, and Eric Hosmer doubled to center field.

Eight of the last nine Orioles were retired, with Ramón Urías reaching in an infield single with two outs in the ninth, and they failed in their attempt to move seven games above .500 for the first time since May 22, 2017. They slipped a half-game behind the Rays, this time for real.

The Red Sox earned their first series win against a division opponent in 13 tries, losing 11 of them. The Orioles won the first two series against them, but fell short tonight in an abbreviated version.

"We had a really nice rally to come back down three," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Vavra with a huge hit for us there, and we didn't score after that. I thought we pitched fairly well, made a couple bad pitches and just came up a run short tonight."

Kremer allowed a run in the first inning and two more in the third, but he kept the   Orioles within reach. He was charged with four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking one batter and striking out six.

Asked whether he was pleased with the way he settled in after the hard early contact, Kremer said, "Yeah. I mean, after the third they didn't score, so that's what I try to do."

Disappointing that the Orioles couldn't finish off this game?

"Losing sucks either way," he said, "so to take an L, it sucks."

And do these games feel like must-wins?

"We go out there with the intention of winning every night," he said. "Playoffs or not, we're trying to win every night."

His walk to Martinez came after he retired 11 of 12, and Hosmer won his battle with Vespi, who’s allowed 11 hits in 35 at-bats against left-handed hitters, including two doubles and two home runs.

"I thought (Kremer) was good after he gave up the three runs," Hyde said. "I thought he started getting more aggressive with his fastball, the changeup was a good pitch tonight. Threw some good curveballs."

Cedric Mullins led off the sixth with his second single off Josh Winckowski and Adley Rutschman drew his 11^th walk in seven games. Vavra tripled into the right field corner with two outs and scored when Winckowski fielded Hays’ slow roller near first base, bobbled the ball and flipped it late to Hosmer.

The original out call was overturned upon review to tie the game 3-3.

Vavra is 5-for-8 with a double, triple and walk with runners in scoring position.

"Anytime you're up with runners on you want to do your best to get them across the plate," Vavra said. "It's something I take pride in, just trying to do the job when I can. This game's not easy, it's not going to happen every time. That makes those moments a little more special."

"He's swinging the bat extremely well and he got couple huge hits," Hyde said. "He's taking good at-bats for us. It's a short swing, he uses the whole field."

The Orioles kept Winckowski busy in the first inning. He threw 25 pitches but didn’t allow a run.

Mullins had a leadoff single and Ryan Mountcastle walked on eight pitches with two outs. In between was Rutschman running the count full after falling behind 0-2 and grounding out, the rare four unassisted putout. Vavra struck out on the sixth pitch of his at-bat to strand two runners.

"I could have made an adjustment," Vavra said. "Obviously, I hate to leave runners out there, but just got to take it one at a time."

Winckowski, whose major league debut came against the Orioles in a May 28 doubleheader, retired eight batters in a row before Mountcastle singled with one out in the fourth by poking the ball inside the first base and down the line. He went to third on Vavra’s bouncer that eluded shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who tried to make a sliding backhand stop, but Hays grounded into a double play.

Jorge Mateo singled off Matt Barnes in the seventh and stole his 27^th base, another call overturned, but he was stranded at third. Rutschman struck out looking at a 95.6 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate.

"I thought Winckowski was good, I thought he gave us a lot of trouble," Hyde said. "Good sinker, good slider, the cutter. We didn't square many balls up against him until that inning. Just not enough offense tonight."

The Red Sox led 1-0 in the first on back-to-back, two-out doubles by Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo. A couple of the outs were loud, too, with Rafael Devers flying to deep right-center and J.D. Martinez lining to center.

Jarren Duran led off the third with a single and scored on Tommy Pham’s double, and Bogaerts lined to deep center for a sacrifice fly and a 3-0 lead.

Kremer stranded Christian Arroyo in the fourth after a two-out double, retired the side in order in the fifth and came out after walking Martinez with two outs in the sixth.

The Orioles are one-and-done in Boston. They host the Rays for three games.

The standings and margin in the wild card chase are poised to undergo more changes.

"Losing's not fun, it never is," Vavra said. "Obviously we want to go out and win every night, but the reality is that's not going to happen. What we can do now is just focus on tomorrow. Put our best foot forward tomorrow and take each game as it's own and try not to get too far down the road. Just do our best."