Delgado Beaten Up Early, Braves Fall To Red Sox 8-4

Randall Delgado took a step back from his eight-inning start his last time out, suffering the shortest outing of his brief career in an 8-4 loss to the Red Sox.

Delgado was given an early lead when Michael Bourn singled to start the game against Franklin Morales and scored on Brian McCann's infield hit, but with two on and no outs, they were left stranded there. Once Delgado went to the mound, it wasn't long before he ran into trouble. With one on and two out in the first, he surrendered three straight hits including a run-scoring single by Adrian Gonzalez and an RBI double by Will Middlebrooks and suddenly Delgado and the Braves were down 2-1.

In the second, Mike Aviles singled with one out and Daniel Nava was hit with a pitch before Dustin Pedroia socked a double to score them both. A pair of walks later, the first one intentional, and Delgado was finished. Cristhian Martinez saved him by inducing a double play out of Adrian Gonzalez, but the first pitch he threw in the third inning was clubbed for a home run by Will Middlebrooks for a 5-1 Red Sox lead.

Atlanta didn't score again until the fifth when Jason Heyward led off with an infield single and advanced to second on an ill-advised throw by Morales. He raced to third on a foul pop-up and scored on Michael Bourn's two-out hit. Boston would get the run back in the bottom of the inning, however, with three straight hits off Martinez before he recorded an out; a pair of singles followed by a Cody Ross double plated Boston's sixth run.

Atlanta struck for single runs in the sixth on an RBI double by Chipper Jones off Morales and again in the seventh on a groundout by Michael Bourn against reliever Scott Atchison to pull within 6-4. They threatened for more in the inning, but Brian McCann lined into a double play to kill the rally.

That turned out to be huge for the Red Sox. Boston put two on against Anthony Varvaro, who had tossed two scoreless innings, before Jonny Venters was summoned to induce a double play. That plan went all for naught when Venters wild pitched the runners to second and third, then Daniel Nava singled past Freddie Freeman to score both runners for the final 8-4 score.

With the win, Boston evens up the series with one more to play. Five different Red Sox hitters had multiple hits and Middlebrooks fell a triple short of the cycle.