BALTIMORE _ The Orioles sent three pitchers to the Camden Yards mound Friday, two they acquired last season in trades in hopes of building for their future. They signed the other in April in hopes of potentially flipping him for talent, too.
The Boston Red Sox tagged each of them for multiple runs in cruising to a 13-2 series-opening victory. Luis Ortiz, the right-hander thrust onto the Orioles' roster and into a spot start thanks to a blister on Andrew Cashner's right middle finger, did little to capitalize on the opportunity. He was due Friday to start in Triple-A Norfolk, where he had a 7.01 ERA, but a need for pitching sent him to Baltimore.
Ortiz, acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in the Jonathan Schoop trade, lasted 3 1/3 innings, walked five and allowed four runs. The fourth came after he was out of the game and Dan Straily was in. Straily, signed to a one-year deal after the Miami Marlins released him late in spring training, got as many out as he allowed home runs. He exited the game after 1 1/3 innings having allowed 19 home runs on the year, only one off the major-league lead. All but one has come at Camden Yards.
Josh Rogers, one of three pitchers the Orioles received for sending Zack Britton to the New York Yankees, provided the innings coverage manager Brandon Hyde was hoping for when the left-hander was added to the roster two hours before the game. Rogers, who had an 8.51 ERA with Norfolk, allowed two runs over the final 4 1/3 innings, with three scoreless frames closing his outing, but he's likely heading back to Triple-A as the Orioles seek someone to handle a similar workload should it be needed Saturday.
For the third straight night, the middle innings proved the most troublesome for Orioles pitching. Christian Vazquez and J.D. Martinez homered in a four-run fourth, then Jackie Bradley Jr., Michael Chavis and Martinez took Straily deep in the fifth. Andrew Benintendi's two-run single in the sixth accounted for all of Boston's runs off Rogers.
The Orioles did not go without a home run, either. Trey Mancini, the Orioles' All-Star favorite by deservedness and default, hit one in the bottom of the first. That marked the only time the Orioles scored against former farmhand Eduardo Rodriguez, who entered with a 5.00 ERA but mostly cruised through seven one-run innings.
Brock Holt hit a two-run home run off Ortiz in the top of the second to erase the Orioles' early lead.
