The Boston Red Sox Tuesday, May 11, 2021 * The Boston Globe Offense goes absent as Red Sox drop finale in Baltimore Peter Abraham BALTIMORE — It felt like a new series when the Red Sox and Orioles returned to Camden Yards on Monday night. Twenty-seven hours had passed since their game on Sunday afternoon. And along with that time went the momentum the Sox had going with their offense. Jorge López and four relievers held the Sox to four hits as the Orioles came away with a 4-1 victory before a crowd of 6,826. After scoring 21 runs on 29 hits in the first three games of the series, the Sox were hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position. Their final 10 hitters went in order, six on strikeouts. The Sox took three of four from the Orioles, losing at Camden Yards for the first time in seven games this season. They had scored 48 runs in the previous six games. The Sox (22-14) return home Tuesday to face the American League West-leading Oakland Athletics. Twenty-seven of the next 33 games on the schedule are against teams at or over .500. Matt Andriese (1-2) took the loss, allowing three runs in relief. Baltimore secured the victory by scoring two runs in the eighth inning, started with what may well have been the only 161-foot triple in major league history. Leadoff hitter Cedric Mullins popped up an Andriese pitch just beyond the infield dirt on the left side. With third baseman Rafael Devers guarding against a bunt and shortstop Xander Bogaerts shifted over on the other side of second base, nobody was close. Bogaerts raced over and nearly caught the ball, but it deflected twice off his glove before hitting the grass. Mullins kept running and slid into third just ahead of the tag from catcher Christian Vázquez. “It’s just a fluky play,” Sox manager Alex Cora said. After Austin Hays walked, Trey Mancini singled in Mullins. Hays eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Freddy Galvis. The first four innings took 65 minutes, a blazing pace compared to most games. The starting pitchers were most responsible for driving the action. Red Sox starter Martín Pérez had his third solid start in a row, allowing one run on four hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out four. Pérez allowed a home run by Ryan Mountcastle in the second inning, when his first-pitch cutter stayed over the plate and was blasted deep into the seats in left field. Pérez has given up four earned runs over 16⅓ innings in his last three starts, dropping his earned run average from 5.71 to 4.01. But the trust in Pérez runs only so deep. Cora lifted him after only 74 pitches. “I don’t control the decision that he makes. I’m OK with that,” Pérez said. “I’m just doing my job when I have the ball in my hands.” Said Cora: “I felt like that was good enough today. He did an amazing job, had good stuff. Kept them off balance.” Politely left unsaid: Perez came into the game having allowed eight earned runs on 15 hits over 10⅔ innings beyond the fourth inning this season. “He is who he is — and we like the guy,” Cora said. “He had good stuff. Today we were set up with Matt to go multiple innings.” Andriese replaced Pérez to start the sixth inning, and his fourth pitch was pounded over the wall in center field by Mancini. It was Mancini’s seventh home run, the third against the Sox. López, who is from Cora’s hometown of Caguas in Puerto Rico, retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced on only 36 pitches. “That kid had good stuff today,” Cora said. “He was throwing 97 mile-per-hour sinkers; he started throwing a changeup. He had a good breaking ball. We didn’t have too much today to offer.” J.D. Martinez singled with one out in the fourth and took second when Bogaerts was hit by a sinker that also got umpire Ron Kulpa. A wild pitch advanced the runners before Devers delivered a fly ball to left field deep enough to score Martinez. Hunter Renfroe, who came into the game with a .914 OPS in May after posting a .485 in April, doubled leading off the fifth. He took third on a groundout, but López struck out Bobby Dalbec and Marwin Gonzalez swinging. The Sox had another threat in the sixth inning when Bogaerts doubled to center field with two outs. Rather than have López face Devers for a third time, the Orioles went to lefthander Tanner Scott. He struck out Devers on five pitches. López allowed one run on four hits and struck out five without a walk in what was his best, and longest, start of the season. Red Sox will double their pleasure with increased capacity starting Tuesday Peter Abraham BALTIMORE — The Red Sox return home on Tuesday night to start a six-game homestand, and more fans will be there to welcome them. Fenway Park has been approved for 25 percent capacity by state officials, which will be approximately 9,500. The first 19 home games were limited to 12 percent and the largest crowd was 4,751 on April 7. The Sox have a three-game series with the Athletics, then three with Mike Trout and the Angels starting Friday. “It’s going to feel different,” manager Alex Cora predicted before his team’s 4-1 series finale loss to the Orioles. “To be honest with you, when we came from Texas to play the Tigers [at Fenway on May 4], I was worried that first inning. It felt like a spring training game with no fans. “Nothing against the people that showed up, but it’s that big of a difference. Looking forward to that and obviously looking forward to a packed house whenever that is. I think it’s going to be fun. “But to have more tomorrow is going to mean a lot to all of us.” The Rangers, open to full capacity since the start of the season outside of three socially distanced sections in the outfield, averaged 29,057 for that series, with a high of 35,129 on May 1. The Sox are 10-9 at Fenway. More fans could help. “Ten thousand fans and better music. We’re going to keep preaching that,” Cora said. Big role for Marwin Gonzalez With fellow utility players Kiké Hernández and Christian Arroyo on the injured list, Marwin Gonzalez takes on a heavier burden for combinations to make the lineup work. Gonzalez was back at second base on Monday, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts out of the leadoff spot. He also has started games at first base, third base, shortstop, left field, and right field this season. In all, Gonzalez has started 29 of the 36 games. “He’s very important, but we’ve got to take care of him,” Cora said. “We have to be careful, too. I don’t want to push him to the ground and all of a sudden we don’t get the good Marwin Gonzalez.” Gonzalez is hitting .219 with a .634 OPS. Cora believes he’s capable of more based on the quality of the at- bats. “I’m working really hard in the cage to get to the point where I can contribute to the team and actually feel good about myself,” Gonzalez said. “Hitting is about confidence.” Gonzalez, who has played for five playoff teams in his career, sees good characteristics in the Red Sox so far. The key will be how they react to adversity. “The bad times are going to come. We’re not going to play the way that we’re playing all season long,” he said. “Then you have to try and get that back.” Ryan Brasier gets started Righthanded reliever Ryan Brasier, who has been out all season with a strained left calf muscle, threw 20- 25 pitches in the bullpen on Saturday at the team complex in Fort Myers, Fla. “He was pretty solid,” said Cora, but Brasier is not yet ready to join a minor league team. Utility player Danny Santana is expected to be added to the Triple A Worcester roster on Tuesday. He was 4 for 10 with a double and a home run in three games for Single A Greenville. Santana is coming back from shoulder and foot injuries. Once ready, Santana will be an option in left field and around the infield. Cora also said the flexor muscle pain that has sidelined Triple A righthander Tanner Houck is minor, and that the medical staff told him Houck’s issue is short term. “We just have to make sure he is where he’s supposed to be. He’s very important to this organization — not only for this year, but for the future,” the manager said. “When things like this happen you have to be smart about it and take your time.” Houck has been the sixth starter this season, filling in both times the Sox needed to fill a gap in the rotation. Bye for now The Red Sox and Orioles have played 10 times this season, which for the Sox represents 28 percent of their schedule to date. The teams don’t meet again until Aug. 13 at Fenway Park . Tuesday will be a homecoming for Oakland first baseman and DH Mitch Moreland, who hit .251 with an .803 OPS and 64 regular-season home runs for the Sox from 2018-20.