Chapman notches 399th save as Red Sox blank Orioles 1-0
Aroldis Chapman closed out career save No. 399 as the Red Sox beat the Orioles 1-0 behind Mickey Gasper's solo homer, splitting the four-game series in Baltimore.
Chapman's 399th save closes out the Baltimore split
The Red Sox took 2 of 4 from the Orioles in Baltimore, winning 6-5 on September 3 and 1-0 on September 4 to salvage a split of the series and push their run to 3-2 over the last 5 games. Mickey Gasper drove in the only run of the finale with a solo home run, going 2-for-4 on the night, and Ranger Suarez turned in his best start in weeks — 7.0 innings, 5 hits, no earned runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Aroldis Chapman finished it off for his 399th career save.
Orioles6-5Orioles1-0The September 3 win also marked Adley Rutschman's first game back at Camden Yards since he was traded out of Baltimore, and he hit 2 home runs off his old club — the subject of Barstool Bush's own piece, 'Adley Rutschman Hits Two Homers In First Game Back At Camden Yards.'
Mickey Gasper becomes Barstool's favorite Red Sox hitter
Mickey Gasper has turned into a recurring subject of Barstool's own coverage. @StoolBaseball called him 'one of the most feared hitters in baseball' on August 31, then came back to him again after Thursday's win with a post titled 'The legend of Mickey Gasper.' On X, Ryan Whitney credited him with 'another first-inning bomb' and noted it was Boston's 15th shutout win of the season.
The attention tracks the production: Gasper's solo homer on September 4 was the entire final score in a 1-0 win, part of a 3-2 stretch over the last 5 games that has kept Boston 5.0 games clear of the American League Wild Card cutline, with an elimination number of 14 among the 3 spots up for grabs.
Upcoming
Sonny Gray (16-4, 2.82 ERA) starts for Boston as the Red Sox are in Baltimore tonight, opposite Chris Bassitt (6-4, 4.97 ERA) for the Orioles. Gray's last start was a loss to the Miami Marlins on August 26 — 5.0 innings, 7 hits, 2 earned runs, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk over 93 pitches — while Bassitt won his last turn against the Athletics on August 30 despite allowing 5 earned runs on 8 hits over 5.2 innings, throwing 99 pitches.
Boston is favored tonight, and the total is rated middling, which fits a matchup between a front-line starter working past a rough outing in Gray and a back-end arm in Bassitt who has been prone to damage of late. If the price holds, it says the market expects Gray to pitch closer to his season-long 2.82 ERA than his last line, with just enough scoring around him to keep the total where the book has it.