Cobb strong in return to mound, Orioles beat Red Sox 7-2

BOSTON (AP) — Anthony Santander and Renato Núñez each drove in two runs and the Baltimore Orioles held off the Boston Red Sox 7-2 on Saturday to even their season-opening series.

Hanser Alberto finished with three hits. Austin Hays, and José Iglesias added two apiece.

Alex Cobb (1-0) was steady in his first start since April 2019 after missing most of last season with a hip injury that required surgery. After Boston pounded out 17 hits in its 13-2 win on Friday, Cobb mostly kept the Red Sox off balance, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings of work.

He took a seat in the sixth after giving up a solo home run to Mitch Moreland.

But Cobb had room for the mistake thanks to the run support from an Orioles lineup that jumped on pitches from Boston starter Martin Pérez early in at-bats to give him a 5-0 cushion. The Red Sox added another run off reliever Paul Fry to pull within 5-2. He was pulled in favor of Miguel Castro, who promptly struck out pinch hitter Xander Bogaerts to end the threat.

Pérez (0-1) lasted just five innings in his Red Sox debut, giving up five runs on six hits and walking two.

Hays and Alberto opened the game with back-to-back hits. Pérez seemed to be working his way out of the jam after striking out José Iglesias and getting Anthony Santander to line out, but Núñez doubled off the Green Monster, scoring Hays and Alberto.

A wild pitch advanced Núñez to third and he made it 3-0 when Rafael Devers mishandled Pedro Severino’s soft grounder to third.

The Red Sox were just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, stranding 10 runners on base. Their biggest bright spot was Alex Verdugo, who had three hits in his first start since coming over in the trade that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Cobb-strong-in-return-to-mound-Orioles-beat-Red-15434255.php