Sox Deep Six O's

Well, these are the teams you have to beat up on, and the Red Sox did just that on Tuesday night, whacking the Orioles, 10-0.

The heavy lumber was out on display, as they took Baltimore pitching deep six times, including twice in the first inning. It was a season-high in home runs last night. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis opened the blitz with two shots in the opening inning, and the Sox were on cruise control after that.

Pedroia went deep in his second at-bat, and J.D. Drew belted a three-run shot, Alex Gonzalez hit one (and just missed another) and David Ortiz completed the barrage in the seventh that finished the scoring at 10-0. Clay Buchholz was superb, retiring the first 11 hitters he faced, and allowed just four hits in seven innings. It brought back memories of his no-hitter of September 2007 (and even the final score was the same, 10-0).

Michael Bowden pitched the final two innings, and with the September callups, both teams took out their regulars and the game took on the feel of a Spring Training game by the end. The Red Sox now lead the season series over the Orioles, 12-2.

Texas won a doubleheader in Cleveland, so the Sox actually lost ground in the Wild Card race, and their lead is now 2 games.