The Red Sox have let opponents score first 29 times this season, and the end result is usually another game in the loss column.

Not this weekend, though. The Red Sox have pulled off back-to-back come-from-behind victories in the first two games of this quartet with the visiting Baltimore Orioles. They’re 10-19 when opponents score first.

Less than two hours before the American League East rivals were due to play the second game of their Saturday doubleheader, Rafael Devers’ 10th inning RBI single – his second walk-off of the home stand – completed a 6-5 win.

It was a laborious, much-needed comeback for a Red Sox team who trailed by multiple runs twice within the first five innings, whose starting rotation hasn’t been going deep into games, whose lineup ranges from scorching to frigid, and who will be without Alex Bregman for a significant amount of time due to what he and manager Alex Cora both described postgame as a “severe” quad strain.

“Satisfying doesn’t do service on this one,” Cora said. “We needed to win that game. We went all in. We put all the chips in.”

Starting strong has been an issue, in general. The Red Sox rotation owned a collective 5.37 ERA, .298 opponent average, and .832 OPS in first innings entering Saturday, and with help from home-plate umpire Mike Muchlinski, who missed several calls, the Orioles took an immediate 2-0 lead against Hunter Dobbins.

The Red Sox rookie lasted just four innings in his first-ever game against the Orioles, his second consecutive start shorter than five innings. Dobbins allowed four earned runs on five hits, one walk, and struck out seven in his seventh career big-league start. He was only at 72 pitches (51 strikes) when his manager gave him the hook, but the game was slipping away: the Orioles plated three runs in the fifth, two of which were charged to Dobbins.

It looked like Orioles starter Zach Eflin wasn’t long for the game either when he began the bottom of the first by giving up a leadoff home run to Jarren Duran and a one-out, game-tying homer to Wilyer Abreu. But after throwing 19 pitches in the first inning, the veteran righty held down the fort. He yielded just four hits in the first five innings, though three were solo homers. (Abraham Toro went yard in the fifth).

Eflin pitched into the sixth, wherein he faced three batters without recording an out and his own team’s defense brought a frustrating end to his afternoon. After giving up a leadoff ground-rule double to Rafael Devers and walking Wilyer Abreu, Carlos Narváez hit into a fielder’s choice, but an error by shortstop Gunnar Henderson allowed Narváez and Abreu to advance to second and third while Devers scored to bring Boston within one.

Eflin exited, charged with five runs (four earned) on five hits, two walks, with one strikeout and three home runs allowed. Then, just over three hours before the AL East rivals were due to play Game 2, Nick Sogard greeted reliever Bryan Baker with a game-tying RBI groundout.

Red Sox wasted a prime opportunity in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and the game tied 5-5, Duran rocketed a single through the middle of the infield. Devers, who entered the contest leading the AL in walks, worked his 40th of the season to join him. It’s been over a decade since any Red Sox player began a season with this much plate discipline; the last player to draw as many as 40 walks in his first 53 games was Kevin Youkilis in 2010.

Trevor Story’s frigid spell at the plate continued. The veteran shortstop went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, making him 14-for-109 (.128) in his last 27 games. A piece of long-awaited breaking news midgame only magnified Story’s struggles: the organization’s top shortstop prospect, Marcelo Mayer, was on his way to Fenway park for his long-awaited big-league debut.

The Boston bullpen has been weathering a stretch of brutally short starts from the rotation, and Saturday was no different: Sean Newcomb, Liam Hendriks, Justin Wilson, Justin Slaten, Aroldis Chapman and Greg Weissert pitched an inning apiece.

There was a split-second of joy in the stands when it looked like Ceddanne Rafaela had wrapped a walk-off homer the fair way around the Pesky Pole in the bottom of the ninth. It sailed foul instead, and his groundout moments later sent the game to extra innings.

Weissert walked the tightrope in the top of the 10th, pitching around Rutschman, the automatic runner on second base. He intentionally walked Ryan O’Hearn, then struck out Jorge Mateo to keep the game tied.

The Red Sox were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and had left four men on base by the end of regulation. But for some reason, the Orioles decided to pitch to Devers, who had already walked off one game at Fenway during the home stand.

The bottom of the 10th began exactly two hours before Game 2’s scheduled 6:35 p.m. start.

Two minutes later, Devers rocketed one up the middle, and brought Rafaela home.