Baltimore, MD – Stephen Drew went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI to power the Boston Red Sox past the Baltimore Orioles, 7-3, in the continuation of a three-game AL East series.
Drew's big night at the plate and Shane Victorino's home run and two RBI complemented a solid start from Ryan Dempster (6-8), who limited Baltimore to two runs on six hits and two walks over 5 1/3 frames.
"I was just trying to hit my spots as best I could," Dempster said.
The Red Sox had lost three of four coming in to fall out of first place for the first time since May 25, and they still trail Tampa Bay by a half-game after the Rays blanked the New York Yankees on Saturday.
Scott Feldman (2-2) was unable to keep Boston scuffling. The midseason acquisition was touched for four runs on six hits and two walks in a five- inning start for the Orioles, who won the opener of the set but have dropped four of their last five on the heels of a five-game winning streak.
Feldman came into the game having pitched 34 1/3 career innings at Oriole Park without allowing a home run, but that streak ended in the fourth inning when Drew took him deep to right field to give the Red Sox a 4-0 cushion.
Victorino's RBI groundout the inning before had given Boston the lead, and Mike Carp and Jarrod Saltalamacchia each singled with two away prior to Drew connecting on his first homer since June 4.
"I made a bad pitch to Drew and he hit it over the fence," Feldman said. "He did some damage with it."
The Orioles appeared to get something going in the fifth with three straight singles to open the frame, the third a base hit off the right-field wall by Brian Roberts to knock in J.J. Hardy.
Dempster, though, limited the damage by striking out Nate McLouth and getting Manny Machado to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
Drew padded Boston's lead in the sixth as he stepped up against Troy Patton with Saltalamacchia on first base and smoked a line drive that hit the railing behind the right-field wall. The play was not originally ruled a home run, and Drew raced around the bases to score when the Orioles botched a rundown between third and home. After replay review, however, Drew was correctly credited with his seventh home run of the year.
Dempster was pulled with runners on the corners and one out in the bottom half, and Matt Wieters greeted Craig Breslow with a run-scoring fielder's choice.
Victorino homered off Jairo Asencio in the seventh, and Baltimore scored the game's last run on a Drew error in the eighth.
After Junichi Tazawa stranded a pair of Orioles in the eighth, Koji Uehara closed out Boston's victory with a scoreless ninth.
Game Notes
The only other time Drew homered twice in a game came on Aug. 25, 2010 when he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks ... Carp had three of Boston's 10 hits ... Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz was ejected by home plate umpire Tim Timmons for arguing balls and strikes in the seventh inning. After striking out, Ortiz damaged equipment in the dugout with a several vicious swings and needed to be restrained by coaches and teammates ... Orioles slugger Chris Davis went 1-for-3 with two strikeouts. The first baseman has struck out at least once in 21 straight games since July 3. His batting average has since dropped from .329 to .307 ... Baltimore still leads the season series, 6-3, and can win its seventh straight series against its division rival Sunday when Jason Hammel matches up against Red Sox lefty Jon Lester.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.