DH gets win for O’s
BOSTON – Chris Davis had a much better day as a designated pitcher than as a designated hitter.
In the first major league game since 1925 in which both teams put a position player on the mound, Davis overcame an awful day at the plate by pitching two scoreless innings and getting the win as the Baltimore Orioles outlasted the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Sunday in 17 innings.
Davis went 0 for 8 as the DH, striking out five times and grounding into a double play. Yet in a season full of surprises for the Orioles, the first baseman by trade delivered the biggest one yet in his pro pitching debut.
“I was like ‘Sweet! I get to try something different today – because hitting ain’t working,’ ” Davis said.
Adam Jones hit a three-run homer in the top of the 17th off Darnell McDonald, an outfielder the Red Sox turned to once their bullpen was empty.
Boston then got two runners on to start the 17th against Davis (1-0). With a fastball in the mid 80s, he struck out Adrian Gonzalez and got McDonald to ground into a double play to end a game that took 6 hours, 7 minutes.
The last time two teams brought in position players to pitch in the same game was Oct. 4, 1925, when Hall of Famers Ty Cobb of Detroit and George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns closed out the second game of a doubleheader on the last day of the season, STATS LLC said.
The last time any position player wound up as the winning pitcher was May 25, 2011, when Philadelphia infielder Wilson Valdez threw one scoreless inning in a 19-inning victory over Cincinnati.
J.J. Hardy had a career-high five hits, including two homers, as Baltimore completed its first sweep at Fenway Park since 1994.
| Baltimore | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Flaherty lf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .167 |
| R.Paulino ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .300 |
| Betemit 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .262 |
| Hardy ss | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .217 |
| Markakis rf | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | .236 |
| Ad.Jones cf | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .304 |
| Wieters c | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .301 |
| C.Davis dh-p | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .299 |
| Mar.Reynolds 3b-1b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .195 |
| N.Johnson 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .128 |
| En.Chavez ph-lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .127 |
| Andino 2b | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .309 |
| Totals | 59 | 9 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 15 |
| Boston | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Aviles ss | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .265 |
| Sweeney rf | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .368 |
| Pedroia 2b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .302 |
| Ad.Gonzalez 1b | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .264 |
| Ortiz dh | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .365 |
| D.McDonald dh-p | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .184 |
| C.Ross lf | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .258 |
| Saltalamacchia c | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .235 |
| Middlebrooks 3b | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .313 |
| Byrd cf | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .240 |
| Totals | 63 | 6 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 18 |
| Balt. | 101 | 300 | 010 | 000 | 000 | 03—9 | 15 | 2 |
| Boston | 000 | 140 | 010 | 000 | 000 | 00—6 | 16 | 3 |
E—Betemit (5), Mar.Reynolds (5), Saltalamacchia 2 (3), Middlebrooks (1). LOB—Baltimore 9, Boston 11. 2B—Hardy (5), Ad.Jones (7), Wieters (5), Mar.Reynolds (7), Aviles 2 (8), Ortiz (12), Saltalamacchia (5). HR—Hardy 2 (6), off Buchholz 2; Andino (2), off Buchholz; Ad.Jones (8), off D.McDonald; Middlebrooks (1), off Tom.Hunter. RBIs—Hardy 2 (10), Ad.Jones 3 (17), Mar.Reynolds (9), Andino 3 (10), Sweeney (10), Saltalamacchia (10), Middlebrooks 4 (4). SB—Ad.Jones (5), Mar.Reynolds (1). CS—Betemit (1), Aviles (3), Pedroia (2). SF—Saltalamacchia. RLSP—Baltimore 5, Boston 4. RMU—C.Ross. GIDP—Hardy, Markakis, Ad.Jones 2, C.Davis, Andino, Ad.Gonzalez, D.McDonald. DP—Baltimore 3, Boston 6.
| Baltimore | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Tom.Hunter | 41/3 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5.00 |
| Ayala | 12/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| O’Day | 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.64 |
| Patton | 1/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.26 |
| Strop, BS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.59 |
| Gregg | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5.19 |
| Lindstrom | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Ji.Johnson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
| C.Davis W,1-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Boston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Buchholz | 32/3 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 9.09 |
| A.Miller | 11/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Albers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.29 |
| Padilla | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7.59 |
| Aceves | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6.17 |
| F.Morales | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 |
| R.Hill | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1.93 |
| Atchison | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.35 |
| D.McDonald L,0-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 27.00 |
IR-S—Ayala 2-0, Patton 2-0, Strop 1-1, A.Miller 2-0, F.Morales 1-0, R.Hill 1-0, Atchison 1-0. T—6:07. A—37,394 (37,067).