When the Baltimore Orioles traded for Corbin Burnes during the offseason, the American League East knew he would be trouble. And in their first two games against him this season, the Red Sox tallied just one earned run (a solo homer) and one unearned run on five hits, five walks, and struck out 11 times. Both times, he’d gone seven innings and the Orioles had won.

But on a night in which the Red Sox had to cobble together a bullpen game with their embattled relief core, the Boston bats completed perhaps their most unexpected victory of the season, a gutsy 12-10 triumph, by handing Burnes the worst start of his Major League career.

That’s not hyperbole, either. Over four innings, Burnes allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits, including a pair of homers by Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida, issued three walks, and struck out seven. He’d entered the game with a 2.71 over 24 starts, and walked off the mound with a 3.10.

The damage was immediate and unceasing. Jarren Duran led off the game with a single, beating out the throw in his usual speedy way, and scored from first immediately on Wilyer Abreu’s 25th double of the season. Devers’ 32nd double scored Abreu easily.

When Burnes didn’t return for the top of the fifth, it became the first start of the season in which he didn’t pitch at least five full innings. It was a career-worst night in both hits and earned runs for the 2021 NL Cy Young.

Alex Cora had his setup man, Chris Martin, and closer Kenley Jansen ready to go for the eighth and ninth innings, but that was contingent on the Red Sox taking and preserving a lead that late in the game, which had been a serious issue in recent weeks. Brennan Bernardino opened the game, but only faced three batters and recorded two outs. Zack Kelly and Cooper Criswell followed. The latter was originally supposed to start the contest, but the Red Sox pivoted. Criswell was still hit hard, over 3.1 innings, the Orioles tagged him for six earned runs on nine hits, four walks, and only struck out once.

But in a refreshing change of pace, whenever the Orioles threatened, the Red Sox added on. When the Orioles got on the board and cut Boston’s lead to one in the second, the Red Sox scored a pair in the top of the third to extend their lead to 4-1. In his first game back since April 20, Triston Casas made a pair of crucial contributions early on. After turning a crucial 3-6-3 double play to end the bottom of the second, he led off the top of the third with a single past the diving second baseman. Moments later, he rounded the bases on Rafael Devers’ 26th home run of the season, a 400-footer scorched 105.2 mph to center.

The Orioles tied it up with a three-run bottom of the third, only to watch as Connor Wong’s RBI single and Yoshida’s three-run blast powered a four-run top of the fourth to put the Red Sox back in front 8-4.

The fifth inning saw the Orioles pull within two on an RBI single by Ramón Urías and a sacrifice fly by veteran catcher James McCann, a last-minute lineup substitution for everyday catcher Adley Rutschman.

In the top of the seventh, the Red Sox greeted their 2018 World Series champion closer Craig Kimbrel with a bang. Or rather, two. David Hamilton’s two-run homer and Jarren Duran’s 420-foot solo blast gave Boston a five-run lead on their hosts, the largest margin of the game.

Once again, the Red Sox would be grateful when the Orioles knocked Luis Garcia around in the bottom of the seventh. Urías has struggled mightily since the trade deadline, and Friday night was no different: Cedric Mullins’ leadoff single and Urías’ two-run homer immediately pulled Baltimore within three. Garcia gave up a pair of one-out singles to Colton Cowser and Anthony Santander, and Gunnar Henderson’s force-out plated another run before Garcia could get out of the inning.

Via translator, Yoshida told NESN’s Jahmai Webster he was “just trying to be aggressive from the first pitch.” He finished the night 3-for-4 with a run, four batted in, and a walk; he’s hitting .291 on the season, and .352 since the All-Star break. He was the hero again in the top of the eighth, singling to score Connor Wong, whose two-out double had kept the inning alive.

“Good swings, good at-bats, smart hitter,” Cora told reporters of Yoshida. “And I think there’s certain guys that are going to benefit from having Triston in the lineup. Raffy hitting behind him, because Triston is going to grind out at-bats, see pitches, and then Raffy can do whatever he wants, being aggressive. Masa is going to benefit from those two-at bats.”

The game took three hours and 36 minutes. In total, 13 pitchers took the mound. The Red Sox tallied 14 hits, struck out 12 times, drew five walks, and Nick Sogard and David Hamilton stole a bag apiece. The Orioles collected 17 hits, six walks, and only struck out eight times, but were 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.

“The offense was locked in,” Cora said. “I was just happy we got to the eighth.”

Somehow, Criswell picked up the win and a blown save.

Brayan Bello will start Saturday for the Red Sox.