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 homestand was Garrett Crochet (twice).

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. Hours after they won Game 1 of the doubleheader by one run to get over .500, they dropped a one-run game to fall back down again.

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). The veteran righty held the Baltimore batters to six hits, two walks, and struck out six, and set a season-high in innings and pitches (99, 63 for strikes). It was his deepest scoreless start since Sept. 15, 2023, and exactly what the exhausted Boston bullpen needed.

“I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff but we had a good mix going. Connor (Wong) did a wonderful job back there calling the game,” Giolito said postgame, adding that the defense was “incredible” behind him. “I knew that it was really important to go deep into the game considering the bullpen usage, and our starting staff, we haven’t gotten the job done, I’d say, the last week or a couple of weeks, so it was most important thing for me to get into the sixth inning and beyond.”

The Red Sox relievers got a well-deserved break but there was no such reprieve for the offense. The Boston bats collected just five hits, 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 6.1 shutout innings were even stingier than Giolito’s.

“It was awesome, I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life,” Mayer said of the ovation from the crowd for his first MLB career at-bat. “It’s definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

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.

“Played good defense, obviously offensively not much happened, but he’s a big leaguer now, nobody can take that away from him,” said manager Alex Cora of Mayer.

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.

“Him, not only him, I think everybody in the bullpen since (the Braves series last weekend),” Cora said about how crucial Bernardino and his fellow relievers have been. “The starters have been going short and we have to be aggressive with the bullpen, and we’re going to feel it for a few days. But today, that game was, I mean, we needed that. We did. … But very proud of the guys, they’re throwing the ball well. Just didn’t happen in Game 2.”

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.

For a moment, the ninth inning had all the makings of a storybook ending. With a man on, Mayer came to the plate representing the winning run.

“I was thinking homer the whole day,” Cora said with a chuckle.

Instead, a force-out put Mayer on base for the first time in his career. But Hamilton lined out to center, leaving Boston’s newest big-leaguer standing on the diamond.

In the opener, Rafael Devers’ 10th inning RBI single — his second walk-off of the homestand — completed a 6-5 comeback and put Boston back in the win column (27-26).

It was a laborious, much-needed comeback for a Red Sox team which 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 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.”

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.