Giolito Turns Camden into a Library: Sox Blank O’s 5–0, Hamilton Adds the Comedy
Trevor Story set the tone, David Hamilton did the damage, and Baltimore’s left fielder supplied the blooper reel. The only thing louder than the scoreboard was the silence.
This one started like a business trip and ended like a shutout clinic. Lucas Giolito carved eight scoreless innings with the swagger of a man who remembered he’s supposed to be an ace. The Orioles managed four hits and a walk off him; the rest was a strike-throwing tutorial that cut the ballpark noise to a hum. Justin Wilson handled the ninth to put the bow on a 5–0 win at Camden Yards.
Offense? Efficient and just annoying enough to send Baltimore fans to their cars early. Trevor Story opened the second by yanking a solo shot to left, the sort of no‑doubt swing that tells you exactly how the next three hours are going to feel for the home side. An inning later, David Hamilton joined the party with a leadoff homer to right. Two swings, two runs, and with Giolito dealing, that was borderline insurmountable.
The Sox added an eighth‑inning insurance run the hard way: Ceddanne Rafaela scored when Omar Narváez chopped a comebacker that turned into a fielder’s-choice RBI. It was the baseball equivalent of finding a $5 bill in a winter coat — not glamorous, but it spends. Then the ninth got delightfully weird. With two outs and two aboard, Hamilton lofted a shallow fly to left that rookie Dylan Beavers converted into a two‑run “double” by overrunning it like he was late for a crab-cake reservation. If you’re an Orioles fan, it was cruel. If you’re Boston, it was dessert.
For Baltimore, Kyle Bradish returned from Tommy John and actually looked sharp: six innings, 10 strikeouts, zero walks. The problem? He threw two pitches to bad places — the Story and Hamilton homers — and his teammates’ bats were still in the shrink wrap. Baseball is unfair like that. Nine of the game’s 21 strikeouts were called looking, which is either an ump show or two staffs living on the black; pick your poison.
Attendance was 14,776 and the game took a brisk 2:25, which is precisely how long it takes to realize that if the Red Sox pitch like this, the offense doesn’t need to cosplay as the ‘03 Red Sox to win.
Player Highlights
Lucas Giolito: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 104 pitches. Command, tempo, disdain. Even his four‑pitch seventh-inning frame felt like a humblebrag. He needed 21 to finish the eighth, which only made the last strikeout meaner. Ace behavior.
David Hamilton: 2‑for‑3, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, and a fly ball that turned into slapstick. Sometimes you barrel baseballs; sometimes you manifest chaos. Hamilton did both.
Trevor Story: 2‑for‑4 with the tone‑setting solo blast and a swipe for good measure. When Story’s pulling heaters, Boston’s offense stops apologizing and starts dictating.
Ceddanne Rafaela: Box says 1‑for‑4 with two runs and a double; the eye test says professional agitator. He manufactures pressure the way Baltimore manufactures warehouse views.
Kyle Bradish (O’s, tip of the cap): 6.0 IP, 10 K, 0 BB in his return from surgery, and all he got was a loss and a front‑row seat to Hamilton’s blooper double. Baseball is a results business.
Pitching Cliff Notes: Giolito (W, 9–2) made it academic; Wilson (9th) closed with two punchouts because clean endings are suddenly legal. Bradish (L, 0–1) looked like a problem for other teams… unfortunately for him, Boston was tonight.
Quotes & Commentary
This wasn’t a vibes win — it was a competence win. The AP headline wrote itself: Giolito sharp; Story, Hamilton homer; Sox 5–0. That’s not poetry, it’s a checklist: power, pitching, and just enough opportunism to make a routine pop‑up look like a rope double. Postgame sentiment around the O’s orbit focused on Bradish’s encouraging return; around Boston, it was: “More of that, please.” Also, worth a nerd note: 10 strikeouts, zero walks for Bradish is how you pitch well and lose anyway; the sport remains deeply unserious.
Opponent Misfires
The Beavers Play: Call it bad luck, bad route, or bad optics — but overrunning a parachute to left with two outs in the ninth is how a 3–0 frustration becomes a 5–0 facepalm. That “double” lives in a box score forever with none of the context and all of the shame.
Whiff City: Henderson punched out three times and the O’s left seven on. When nine of 21 strikeouts are called looking, that’s either elite edge‑work from Boston or a team content to admire pitches. Either way, thank you for your service.
No Support for a Good Return: Bradish did his part; the lineup did not. If you’re going to celebrate a healthy arm, you might also consider a healthy swing.
Red Sox Momentum Check
The Sox have now won two straight and five of six, pushing to 73–60, four games behind division‑leading Toronto and a nose ahead of New York. It’s not a parade; it’s a pulse. Momentum in Boston is a rumor that lasts exactly as long as the next start, but when Giolito looks like this and the defense stops gifting extra outs, you can squint and see October as more than a daydream. For one night, the rotation looked like a plan, not a patchwork.
Future Outlook
Back at it tonight in Baltimore: Brayan Bello gets the ball against an Orioles opener (Dietrich Enns), which is code for “Boston should score early or please stop pretending momentum is real.” Bello’s task: avoid the inning where he speed‑runs all three outcomes (walk, double, damage). If the Sox put traffic on against the bullpen carousel and keep the ball out of the middle late, this series can turn into a statement instead of a split. Handle your business, fly north with receipts.
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