BALTIMORE — Anthony Santander and Keon Broxton homered off David Price, and the Baltimore Orioles got six solid innings from rookie right-hander John Means in an 11-2 rout of the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Price (7-3) allowed six runs, eight hits and a walk in four innings to take his first loss in 13 starts since April 27. The left-hander was 8-0 at Camden Yards and 16-5 lifetime against the Orioles before turning in a surprisingly ineffective performance in 96-degree heat against the team with the worst record in the big leagues.
Sam Travis homered for the Red Sox, who had won 14 of their previous 16 road games.
Boston leadoff hitter Mookie Betts had his streak of scoring in 13 straight games come to an end, one short of breaking the franchise record he now shares with Ted Williams (1946).
Means (8-5), the Orioles’ representative on the AL All-Star team, gave up two runs and four hits. Facing the highest-scoring team in the majors, Means issued only one walk and retired nine straight batters after allowing the second-inning homer to Travis.
Price, on the other hand, struggled from the outset. The 2012 Cy Young winner gave up a single and a walk in the first inning before Santander sent a 2-2 fastball over the center-field wall.
Means opened the second with a walk and Travis followed with his first home of the year and second of his career.
In the bottom half, Richie Martin hit a liner off the right-field scoreboard. J.D. Martinez chased down the carom as Martin was zipping around the bases, and after Martinez failed to cleanly pick up the ball, Martin raced for home and scored with a head-first slide.
The play was ruled a triple, with Martinez getting an error.
Price avoided damage in the third, but Broxton made it 6-2 with a two-run drive to left in the fourth.
Baltimore continued the onslaught against the Boston bullpen. It was the Orioles’ second straight blowout win – they beat Washington 9-2 on Wednesday.
FAMILIAR FACE
Andrew Cashner returned to Camden Yards just five days after being traded to the Red Sox for a pair of 17-year-old prospects. He will start on Sunday.
“I think this will be the hottest start I’ve made this year, but it’ll be nice to face some of the guys I was with for a year and a half,” Cashner said.
Asked if it felt a bit strange to be in the visitor’s clubhouse, the right-hander replied, “It’s different, but I’ve been over here before.”
SLUMPING SMITH
Orioles outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. got the night off while mired in an 0-for-July skid that’s reached 30 at-bats and dropped his batting average from .255 to .230. “They’re making adjustments to him,” Manager Brandon Hyde said. “Pitchers are pitching him a little bit differently, and now it’s his turn to make the adjustment back.”
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