Adam Jones' first-pitch double off Koji Uehara in the seventh inning plated the decisive run in a 3-2 win for the Orioles on Thursday night at Fenway Park. Andrew Miller's performance was more concerning than Uehara's.
BOSTON — The third hit Koji Uehara allowed since the start of September happened to plate the decisive run for the Orioles on Thursday night in a 3-2 Red Sox loss at Fenway Park.
Hey, closer Joel Hanrahan's not the only one who's going to have an off night.
Andrew Miller walked the one batter he faced in the seventh inning, Nick Markakis, with one on and two out after getting ahead in the count 1-2. Uehara's first pitch to Adam Jones was a splitter that did little splitting, and Jones shot it to left for a double, breaking a tie at 2.
"It was a split that didn’t quite have the normal depth," manager John Farrell said. "First pitch that he throws him and he jumped all over it. Saw a pitch up in the strike zone and he’s obviously very capable of doing that.”
Uehara had struck out 22, given up one walk and allowed just a pair of hits stretching to the start of the final month of the 2012 season. This season he had thrown three perfect innings
Thursday was the first time Red Sox manager John Farrell had used Uehara in back-to-back games.
"He’s had very good success in back-to-back days," Farrell said before the game. "We also have to balance a full year, his age (38) and our desire to go to him frequently, because he’s a darn good pitcher. With every reliever that’s pitched the day before there will be a conversation that goes in batting practice to gain their status, their availability tonight. So I think based on the short number of pitches he threw last night, he would be available."
Uehara made a bad pitch and paid.
The lefty Miller, meanwhile, has allowed the first batter he's faced to reach in three of four outings this season — twice by walk, once by hit-by-pitch. No hits.
Last season, the first batter Miller faced had just a .151 on-base percentage against him, with four walks total issued in 53 plate appearances. Miller's importance is highlighted at the moment because he's the only left-hander in the bullpen with Craig Breslow on the disabled list.
"Well, we’re in the first 10 games of the season. I’m not going to rush to judgment," Farrell said. "Certainly you’d like to see the effectiveness be there and I’m sure, in time, it will be. he’s a valuable guy for us right now. We’ve got to pick our spots with that one left-hander out there. Even though Koji and (Junichi Tazawa) have been fairly successful against lefties, that’s the situation he’s in right now."
The Sox had not lost two straight games this season before Thursday, and they also had not dropped a series. Had Boston won either of the last two days, it would have started the 2013 campaign with three straight series wins for the first time in 51 years.
Orioles first baseman Chris Davis homered again, and he set an RBI record: 19 in the first nine games of the season, most since the stat began to be counted in 1920. That made it 1-0 in the second.
The Sox took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third on three straight two-out singles from the heart of the order: Shane Victorino, Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli. Pedroi and Napoli got the RBIs, and Napoli's came after a nine-pitch battle with O's starter Chris Tillman.
Tillman's done well against the Sox lifetime, with a 2.88 ERA in five starts, and an 0.82 ERA in two starts prior at Fenway. That continued with two runs allowed in 5 1/3 innings.
Jones tied the game at 2 in the fifth as well.
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