Red Sox rookie starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez was roughed up for the second time in three starts during Thursday's 8-6 loss to the Orioles. The left-hander allowed six runs on seven hits and no walks, while striking out five in 3 2/3 innings.
Rodriguez (3-2) got off to a really great start Thursday. He had two strikeouts in the first inning and five strikeouts through three perfect innings. Unfortunately, it all fell apart for Rodriguez in the fourth inning.
He retired Manny Machado to begin the inning before he allowed a double to Chris Parmalee and an RBI single to Nolan Reimold. Matt Wieters then parked a two-run homer. Delmon Young and Chris Davis reached via singles before J.J. Hardy brought both players home with a double. Steve Pearce singled before Ryan Flaherty gave the Orioles a 6-1 lead with a sac fly.
"He's cruising along -- he retires the first 10 of the game," Red Sox manager John Farrell said, per MLB.com. "He was dominant. He had a number of swing-and-miss [pitches], and then he gets in the stretch, they make a little bit of an adjustment. He wasn't commanding the baseball when he got to the stretch.
Alexi Ogando then replaced Rodriguez with two outs in the fourth, and escaped the jam by getting Machado to fly out to center field.
Rodriguez has allowed at least six runs in two of his last three starts. He lost both of those games.