– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — A day before his team plays a regular-season game at the home of the Little League Baseball World Series, Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Michael Wacha continued to roll back the years in another example of his role as the team’s stopper during the 2022 season.
Wacha threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings, his second consecutive start without allowing a run, as he helped lead the Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Saturday afternoon. Kiké Hernández launched a two-run home run in the sixth inning that proved to be the game-winning hit as Boston pounded out 12 hits after mashing 19 hits last night.
Despite those 19 hits on Friday, as well as 10 runs scored, Boston’s pitching staff was bludgeoned by Baltimore’s offense as it produced 15 runs and 18 hits on its way to winning the opening game of the series. Boston could not have had a better person on the mound one day after the team’s dismal pitching performance than Wacha, who was coming off tossing seven scoreless innings last Sunday in a win over the New York Yankees, and although he allowed base runners in three of the first four innings today, he continued to get the key ground ball to get him out of trouble on multiple occasions.
Wacha earned his eighth victory of the season, the most wins he has had since amassing eight for the Cardinals back in 2018, and the Red Sox are now 11-4 in his 15 starts this season.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Elliott Brown. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 31 pictures in total.
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