Garrett Crochet pitched six shutout innings and Andruw Monasterio drilled a late-game grand slam as the Boston Red Sox snapped a four-game losing streak with a 17-1 victory against the host Baltimore Orioles on Saturday afternoon.
Later on Saturday, the Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and five others on staff: hitting coach Peter Fatse, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, third base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramon Vasquez and hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. Chad Tracy, 40, the club’s manager at Triple-A Worcester since 2022, was named interim manager. Game planning and run-prevention coach Jason Varitek will be reassigned to a new role in the organization.
Caleb Durbin and Willson Contreras joined Monasterio with ninth-inning home runs as part of Boston’s 10-run blitz in the final inning.
Contreras provided a sacrifice before batting twice in the ninth with a run-scoring single and a three-run homer to finish with five runs batted in. Connor Wong drilled a three-run double in the fifth inning. Monasterio and Ceddanne Rafaela had three hits apiece.
The Orioles, who racked up 20 hits on Friday night, had one hit through five innings Saturday. Taylor Ward had two of Baltimore’s six hits.
Crochet (3-3), who had a couple of rough outings during a personal two-game losing skid, limited the Orioles to three hits and two walks while striking out seven batters. He allowed Coby Mayo’s double and two sixth-inning singles.
Baltimore starter Trevor Rogers (2-3) didn’t make it through the second inning. He was charged with three runs on four hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. He threw 48 pitches in the second.
With the seven runs through five innings, Boston’s run total was one more than the team’s total in its previous four games combined.
The Red Sox produced a three-run second inning with two outs, beginning with Durbin’s run-scoring double. Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in a run with a single two batters later before Rafaela followed with a run-producing single.
Contreras delivered a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Wong came through with a two-out bases-clearing double in the fifth.
Boston’s four runs across the fourth and fifth innings off reliever Albert Suarez were unearned.
The Red Sox lost the shutout bid in the seventh when Tyler O’Neill, in his first game back from the concussion injury list, singled and later scored on Leody Taveras’ groundout. That run was unearned off Greg Weissert.
Rafaela led off the ninth with a triple and scored on Contreras’ single before Baltimore turned to utility player Weston Wilson on the mound.
The start of the game was moved up four hours because of weather-related concerns later in the day.
–Field Level Media
