BOSTON (AP) ― When Wei-Yin Chen saw right fielder Nick Markakis make a diving grab in the fifth inning, sure, he thought about a perfect game.
Chen didn’t permit a runner until the sixth, Adam Jones helped provide an early cushion and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 10-6 Wednesday for a three-game sweep.
The Orioles took an 8-0 lead in the fifth. Markakis robbed Allen Craig with a catch in the gap for the second out in the bottom of the inning. “Of course it still crosses your mind, a perfect game is still very difficult to do, so I tried to concentrate on each at-bat,” Chen said through a translator.
Dan Butler then doubled off the Green Monster with one out in the sixth, ending the pitching drama. “Wei-Yin was tough,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “I love the way he attacked with the lead, pitched real well with the lead. A lot of people nitpick around. He had some depth on his off-speed stuff again.”
Caleb Joseph homered and drove in three runs and Ryan Flaherty got a career-high four hits as Baltimore won for the 11th time in 14 games and maintained its double-digit lead atop the AL East.
Chen (15-4) gave up one run and three hits in seven innings, striking out four without a walk. The left-hander felt throwing strikes early in counts was important.
