None of that mattered much once the first inning ended. Boston jumped Kremer for 4 runs right out of the gate, and Bennett made it stand up, cruising into a 6-3 final that kept the Red Sox's remarkable run going.
The final line undersells how competitive the Orioles actually were after that first-inning gut punch. Baltimore out-hit Boston 11-9 and clawed single runs across three different innings, but there was no answer for that early hole or for a Red Sox club that's now won its 15th straight, tying the franchise record set back in 1946.
Under interim manager Chad Tracy, this Red Sox team barely resembles the one that started 10-17 and got Alex Cora fired. Boston is a completely different club right now, and it's happening despite a long injured list of its own — Triston Casas, Roman Anthony and Tanner Houck are among those still on the shelf. The Orioles, meanwhile, keep bleeding pitching depth, with Chris Bassitt, Ryan Helsley, Felix Bautista and Keegan Akin all lost for extended stretches.
Baltimore sits fourth in the AL East at 49-52, three games back of a Wild Card spot with the trade deadline bearing down, and losing your top two catchers in the same week is a brutal spot to be in right as decisions need to get made. Boston, on the other hand, looks like the last team anyone in the East wants to see right now — and there's still a Game 2 tonight to make it 16.