David Ortiz homered and drove in four runs to back winning pitcher John Lackey as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-1 Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
The win salvaged the finale of the three-game series. Boston had lost four of its last five games at home.
Ortiz hit his 31st homer of the season, a three-run shot in the fourth inning, to give the Red Sox a 3-1 lead. Josh Reddick hit his first homer of the season to increase the Boston advantage to three runs in the fifth.
Ortiz then singled in the sixth to drive home J.D. Drew, and Adrian Beltre followed with an RBI single to complete the scoring.
Lackey (13-11) went seven innings, allowing five hits without a walk in seven innings. He struck out four.
The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI double by Ty Wiggington but it was all they could manage.
Kevin Millwood (3-16) was dealt the loss. He surrendered six runs on seven hits in five innings.
Baltimore | Boston | |
Kevin Millwood | Player | John Lackey |
Loss | W/L | Win |
5.0 | IP | 7.0 |
5 | Strikeouts | 4 |
7 | Hits | 5 |
10.80 | ERA | 1.29 |
Baltimore | Boston | |
Luke Scott | Player | David Ortiz |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 4 |
0 | HR | 1 |
3 | TB | 5 |
.500 | Avg | .667 |