G102: Red Sox 6, Orioles 5

Red Sox - 012 010 200 - 6 11  2
Orioles - 003 002 000 - 5  9  0

Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning and Jonathan Papelbon nailed down the win with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Smoltz could not hold a 3-0 lead (David Ortiz clocked a two-run dong in the third) and Baltimore tied it right away. Jacoby Ellsbury whacked a solo shot to start the fifth and he was on board when Yook went yard two innings later. LBJ was 3-for-5 with two singles, a homer, 2 runs scored, an RBI, a stolen base and a dong-robbing catch on Luke Scott to end the Orioles sixth.

Yook singled twice in addition to his homer. ... Josh Reddick (#68) made his major league debut when he pinch-hit for Rocco Baldelli to lead off the top of the ninth. He grounded out to shortstop on a 0-1 pitch and played RF for the bottom of the inning. ... The 5-6-7-8-9 spots in the Red Sox order went 2-for-16.

Smoltz (6-8-5-0-2, 87) was relieved by Ramon Ramirez (1B, F7, E1, 5U, 6-4), Hideki Okajima (K, BB, BB, PF3, L1) and Bot (K, F8, K).John Smoltz (7.04, 66 ERA+) / Jeremy Guthrie (5.21, 88 ERA+)

Boston is currently 2.5 GB New York. Yankees/White Sox at 8 PM.Check out the very last sentence in this ESPN story on Victor Martinez:

But a bigger deal, for Toronto ace Roy Halladay, fell apart when Boston refused to part with both Buchholz and reliever Daniel Bard.

One other story from last week worth noting: Kevin Youkilis had three friends who committed suicide when he was young and his Hits for Kids foundation is raising money for Riverside Trauma Center and its efforts to prevent youth suicide.