Boston, MA – Wei-Yin Chen outdueled Josh Beckett and the Baltimore Orioles set a franchise record Wednesday night with their seventh straight win at Fenway Park.
Chen threw seven shutout innings and Robert Andino hit an RBI single in a two- run sixth, leading the Orioles to a 2-1 victory.
"I like Chen. He comes from Taiwan and he's a rookie in this league, but he ain't scared," remarked Andino. "He kept us in the game and gave us a chance to score some runs."
Baltimore, which had won six in a row at the storied ballpark for the fourth time, improved to 6-2 against the Red Sox this season and moved back into first place in the AL East.
Chen (5-2) allowed seven hits but no walks while striking out four to snap a personal three-game winless streak. Prior to that, the 26-year-old rookie had been 4-0 over his first seven major league outings.
Beckett (4-6) gave up just two runs on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts in eight innings, the fifth straight time he went at least seven. But the 32-year-old righty remained winless (0-1) in his last three starts.
"He was efficient with great stuff," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine about Beckett. "He deserved better."
The Orioles came back to win the opener of this three-game series, 8-6, in 10 innings Tuesday after Jarrod Saltalamacchia had tied it for the Red Sox with a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer in the ninth.
On Wednesday, the Red Sox stranded five runners between the sixth and eighth innings before Jim Johnson, who blew his first save this season Tuesday night, retired them in order in the ninth for his 18th save.
Beckett retired the first nine Orioles batters, striking out three, before Endy Chavez started the fourth with a single to left. J.J. Hardy grounded into a double play after that, starting a string of five straight set down by Beckett before Wilson Betemit's leadoff single in the sixth sparked a two-run rally.
Ryan Flaherty followed with a base hit and Betemit scored from third when Andino slapped a single down the right field line. Baltimore took a 2-1 lead when Chavez grounded into a failed double play fielder's choice, scoring Flaherty.
After the Red Sox stranded a runner at first in the sixth inning, they had even better chances in the seventh and eighth.
Adrian Gonzalez and Saltalamacchia hit back-to-back singles to begin the seventh and moved up on Darnell McDonald's sac bunt, but Chen struck out Marlon Byrd and got Aviles on a pop-up behind first base to escape.
Beckett set the Orioles down in order in the eighth and Pedro Strop issued one-out walks to Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz, but the Red Sox again came away empty-handed after Will Middlebrooks flied out and Scott Podsednik grounded out.
Earlier, McDonald, activated from the 15-day disabled on Tuesday, led off the third inning with a double off the wall in left-center, went to third base on Byrd's single and scored on Aviles' sac fly to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
Game Notes
The Red Sox have lost three in a row and four of six...Baltimore improved to 3-7 in its last 10...The Orioles agreed to terms with 49-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer on a minor league contract Wednesday and said he's scheduled to start for Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday at Buffalo. Moyer was released by the Rockies over the weekend. They also activated left-hander Zach Britton from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Norfolk and transferred righty Stu Pomeranz to the 60-day DL.
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