Before Lucas Giolito blanked the Baltimore Orioles for seven innings in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader, the only Red Sox starter to even reach five innings in any of the first eight games of this 10-game home stand was Garrett Crochet (twice).

It wasn’t exactly a walk in the ballpark for Giolito, but backed by a strong Red Sox defense, he completed seven scoreless innings, something only done once by the rotation once this season (Crochet, April 2). It was his deepest scoreless start since Sept. 15, 2023, and exactly what an exhausted Boston bullpen needed.

But to paraphrase Pedro Martinez in the 2004 ALCS, all Giolito could do was pitch. He could do nothing about the fact that the Red Sox once again couldn’t overcome a one-run deficit, and lost 2-1.

The Red Sox relievers got a well-deserved break but there was no such reprieve for the offense. The Boston bats collected just 5 hits in the contest, and went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

The Fenway Faithful were on their feet for Marcelo Mayer’s first career at-bat, but the top prospect and his new teammates did next-to-nothing against Trevor Rogers, whose seven shutout innings were even stingier than Giolito’s. The Orioles southpaw needed just 87 pitches (56 strikes) to get through his start, in which he struck out five and didn’t issue a walk. Save for Kristian Campbell’s second-inning single, Rogers kept Boston off the bases entirely until the seventh, when he plunked Rob Refsnyder and gave up another single to Campbell. The two were left in scoring position when Mayer struck out to end the inning.

Mayer did, however, impress at third base, making several smooth throws to first in time for an out. When Jorge Mateo singled to right with two outs in the seventh, Refsnyder gunned to third, where Mayer made the inning-ending tag look effortless.

Game 1 of the doubleheader took 3:06 to complete, including a 26-minute rain delay before first pitch, and a 10th inning. By comparison, the AL East rivals blazed through Game 2. It took less than two hours to reach the top of the eighth, when Brennan Bernardino took the mound for his sixth appearance of the home stand, and recorded the first two outs with a walk in between.

Looking to keep the game scoreless, the Red Sox turned to rookie reliever Luis Guerrero, whom they’d recalled from Triple-A Worcester hours earlier. Guerrero, who debuted late last season, entered with a 0.00 ERA over 12 career appearances.

Instead, Guerrero immediately walked Adley Rutschman and gave up the go-ahead run on a single by Ryan O’Hearn before coming back from a 3-0 count to strike out Ramon Urias. The run ended Bernardino’s streak of 12 scoreless outings, and meant that Boston would have to come from behind for the third time in the series.

The Red Sox got aggressive in the bottom of the eighth. Cora sent David Hamilton out to pinch-run for Nick Sogard, who led off with a single. The speedy infielder promptly stole second, a call the Orioles challenged unsuccessfully, and was joined on the bases when Connor Wong drew a walk. They stood there watching Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran, and Rafael Devers go in order to waste another opportunity.

Despite the Red Sox turning their third double-play of the game, Guerrero’s ERA finally took on water in the top of the ninth. The run he allowed proved to be the difference-maker between the Red Sox potentially forcing extra innings for the second time on Saturday.

The Red Sox were three outs away from being shut out for the first time this season when Abraham Toro came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the ninth. His second home run of the day soared high and deep into the inky sky, and sent right-fielder Dylan Carlson and center-fielder Jorge Mateo racing toward the Boston bullpen. Mateo toppled in trying to complete the robbery.

Mayer’s force-out put him on base for the first time moments later, but it was for naught. The Red Sox are 6-13 in one-run games, and after getting their heads above .500 with a win in Game 1 of the doubleheader, are now treading water at 27-27.