Here’s what I think about Eduardo Rodriguez: he’s electric and capable of dominance until he’s not. From my spot on the couch, it’s very easy to point at the screen and say, “It’s a mental issue. When things don’t go his way, he falls apart.” Because that’s what my eyes tell me. In six games started so far, he’s either been lights out or gone to pieces after defensive lapses. But who knows? It could be random, or it could be something else entirely.

After retiring 10 straight Baltimore batters to start the game and being spotted a one-run lead, Rodriguez gave up a clean double to Chris Parmelee. He got the next batter, Nolan Reimold, to offer at a low pitch with a check swing, but Reimold made contact and the ball bounced to Rodriguez’s right. He checked to see if he could get Parmelee at third (he couldn’t), had to rush his throw to first to try to get Reimold, and threw it away. Parmelee came around to tie the game, and the wheels came off from there. Gordon Edes thinks it’s because he went to the stretch, but whatever the cause, the results were: two-run home run, single, single, double (scoring two runs), single, sacrifice fly. Alexi Ogando came in to record the last out of the 4th. 6-1, Orioles.

But the farther back we’ve gotten in the playoff race (ha), the more I’ve come to expect a little fight from the Sox. And they did fight back, putting together singles from Napoli and Sandoval for Alejandro De Aza to knock in with a home run, his first in Boston, wrapping one around Pesky’s Pole.

But Tommy Layne and new call-up Jonathan Aro weren’t effective enough to keep the Red Sox deficit to 2 runs, giving up 2 more over the course of the 6th and 7th innings. Xander Bogaerts did his best in the 7th inning, bringing Betts in from first with an RBI double and scoring from third on a wild pitch, but that was the end of the scoring. Let’s move on.

Actually, wait. Jackie Bradley, Jr. nailed David Lough at home on a fly ball to right field in the top of the 9th, and MLB did a cool video segment thing that you should watch.

Notes:

• Mike Napoli broke out of his 4-game hitless slump, more or less, by going 2-3 with a garbage ground rule double and a hit-by-pitch.

Bonus! Celtics Draft Analysis with as Much Optimism as I Can Muster

Full disclosure, I fell asleep before the Celtics’ second 1st round pick.

16th pick: Terry Rozier – No more Phil Pressey? I mean I love the guy, but Rozier has to be an upgrade. Other than that…gimme a break, I have no idea. I can just parrot stuff I’ve read about him if you want. He’s the next Marcus Smart! Wait, don’t we already have him? Hmmmm. Seems to rebound well. Looks like he makes his free throws for the most part. Active hands on defense. Not a ton of assists.

28th pick: R.J. Hunter – You remember this, right?

Clearly a deadly sharpshooter with cojones the size of watermelons.

33rd pick: Jordan Mickey – Automatic 4 blocks and 10 rebounds a game. Boom. For real though, he had 6 or more blocks 10 times last year. Not bad.

45th pick: Marcus Thornton – Good shooter, but I feel like we’ve seen this story before with Celtics draft picks. Not to mention, he’s probably not even as good as the Marcus Thornton we had last year.

The question is, can the Sox do better than this? Are they more than a team that can win every other game? Because if they have any interest at all in making the playoffs, they’re going to have to put together a serious run. I’m not sure that this permutation of the team is capable of that.

Side note: Righty is probably feeling a lot better about this team than I am, because he’s been writing about the wins and I’ve been taking the losses. Also, I’m a pessimist.

Finally, a little housekeeping: Rusney Castillo (who was fine, but not exactly a savior) and Steven Wright were sent down to the minors. Justin Masterson was brought back up in Wright’s place for long relief work (for now). Castillo’s roster spot is currently occupied by catcher Erik Kratz, who the Sox claimed off waivers from the Royals. Blake Swihart is still out with a sprained foot.

Mike Napoli had a golden sombrero, which, for those who don’t know, means an 0 for 4 performance with 4 strikeouts. Truly the pinnacle of failure. He’s back below the Mendoza Line, and there’s not really much to say. I still hope that he can turn it around, but I don’t know that it’s really going to happen. I’m sure we’ll see some productive bursts, but I’d be (pleasantly) surprised if he gets above .240 when all’s said and done.

The trouble started for Joe Kelly in the 2nd inning, when he gave up three consecutive singles without recording an out. Certainly not ideal. After a sacrifice fly to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead, Kelly might have relaxed a bit (or maybe he just stinks), and gave up a back-breaking full count home run to center fielder David Lough into the visitors’ bullpen. 4-0, Baltimore.

Kelly got into more trouble in the 3rd, putting men on 1st and 3rd with one out. But Sandy Leon said no! First, the Orioles tried a Chris Davis-Chris Parmelee double steal, and Leon applied the tag at home to erase Parmelee after a throw down to second. Then, after Kelly walked Travis Snider on three consecutive balls after the out at home, Leon snapped a throw to first to pick Snider off and end the inning. Even better, he led off the next inning with a single, moved to third base on a Mookie Betts double, and scored on a ground ball to the right side of the infield by Brock Holt. Both Pedroia and Ortiz, however, failed to bring in Betts from third, and the score remained 4-1.

With 2 outs and men on first and second (both singles) in the 4th inning, John Farrell decided he’d seen enough and brought in Robbie Ross, Jr. for Kelly, putting an end to yet another ineffective outing for Pumpsie (although he’s been at least a little better recently):

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Kelly	3.2	8	5	5	2	2	1	5.67

Jimmy Paredes, a switch-hitter, was forced to bat from the right side of the plate against the lefty Ross, but still knocked in Lough with a single, charging another run to Kelly. Parmelee grounded out for the final out of the inning, but the damage was done, with the Orioles bringing their lead back to 4.

To their credit, the Sox kept battling. Hanley Ramirez singled to lead off the inning, advanced to second on an Ubaldo Jimenez wild pitch to Bogaerts (who would eventually strike out), and put together an actual quality hustle play by scoring on a Pablo Sandoval single to shallow center. 5-2, Orioles.

After a 1-2-3 inning by Ross, Boston kept going, this time putting together a two-out rally consisting of back-to-back walks by Pedroia and Ortiz and Hanley’s second consecutive single, this one to drive Pedroia in. With men on 1st and 2nd though, Bogaerts struck out for the second straight time to end the rally. 5-3, Orioles.

John Farrell was 0-2 in this game at successfully bringing in relievers to put out fires. Ross, of course, immediately gave up an RBI single in the 4th. A similar scenario occurred in the top of the 6th, when Ross walked Ryan Flaherty on four pitches, then allowed Lough to bunt him to second. Farrell brought in Alexi Ogando to face the righty Manny Machado, and Machado promptly doubled off the Green Monster, bringing in Flaherty to make the score 6-3, Orioles.

Holt struck out looking in the bottom half of the same inning with men on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, and Farrell was thrown out of the game for arguing balls and strikes. It was a bad call, so good on him I guess.

Leon threw out another runner, Jimmy Paredes, in the top half of the ninth to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, after a Pedroia double to deep right center to drive in Mookie Betts and narrow the lead to 2 runs, Ortiz came to the plate, representing the tying run. He went the other way against the shift, hitting a nice little line drive…but Manny Machado was waiting right in the ball’s path to end the game. Shame, too, it probably would’ve scored Pedroia and gotten Ortiz to second, and then we could’ve brought in a pinch runner, and then Hanley would’ve been up and he’d been hitting well…whatever. Didn’t happen.

Notes:

• Ortiz and Bogaerts were a combined 0-5 with runners in scoring position. They were both 0-4 with 2 strikeouts apiece.