Like many have been asking over the past few days, the Orioles were probably wondering who these guys were?
Certainly the collection of players running around the bases at Camden Yards Thursday afternoon couldn't have been the group formerly known as the 2021 Red Sox. The last time Baltimore pitted the best version of itself against that group, the result was a three-game sweep.
Now? Well, they are a different bunch of Red Sox.
For the fourth straight game, Alex Cora's club enacted its will on the opposition, this time spoiling the Orioles home-opener thanks to a 7-3 Red Sox win.
Like the previous four Red Sox wins, there was a lot to pick through. So ...
- First and foremost, Eduardo Rodriguez returned. The line -- 5 innings, 3 runs, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts, no walks -- wasn't eye-popping, but it was certainly good enough. The lefty's stuff was also good enough, with his fastball maxing out at 93 mph and a changeup he threw more than any other offering (25). Most importantly, he pitched and looked the part.
- The guy who came in after him, Rule 5 draft pick Garrett Whitlock, continued to hint at becoming a legitimate weapon. While his fastball touches 96 mph, it's his changeup -- taught to him by Matt Andriese this spring training -- that is emerging as a lethal pitch.
Whitlock finished his perfect two innings striking out three, giving him eight in 5 1/3 innings.
- There weren't a lot of boxes to still check off for the Red Sox after the previous three games, but getting Rafael Devers' bat going was certainly one of them. Sure enough ... box checked. Devers hit a ball 452 feet in the first inning for the Red Sox' first two runs and the third baseman's initial long ball of the season. He added another hit, boosting his average 77 points.
- Christian Vazquez can't be stopped right now, collecting three more hits to place his batting average to .458.
- Marwin Gonzalez drew a key walk in the Red Sox' pivotal two-run sixth inning and came away with a run-scoring single the following frame, but Cora might want to rethink the alignment of having the utility man at shortstop with both Kiké Hernandez and Christian Arroyo viable options. After flawlessly playing his previous four positions, Gonzalez looked a little shaky at shortstop.
- Franchy Cordero managed just one hit, but it was a bit one. With the score tied at 3-3 in the sixth inning, the lefty hitter went the opposite way once again for a go-ahead single. All but one of Cordero's five hits this season have been to the opposite field.
- J.D. Martinez hasn't stopped hitting, or driving in runs. After his run-scoring double in the seventh inning, the designated hitter has now driven in runs in each of his first seven games, a team record. He has 12 RBI in total.
- Matt Barnes finished things off by striking out the side in the ninth inning. He has now gone four innings without allowing a hit and fanning nine.