Baltimore, Maryland – Jarren Duran hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, keeping Boston in the hunt for the American League East lead while deepening Baltimore’s slide in the division. The Red Sox vs Orioles August 25 2025 matchup drew 15,740 fans under clear skies with 81-degree temperatures and a 9 mph wind out to right field, marking another chapter in the longstanding rivalry between the two clubs. Boston improved to 72-60 overall and maintained second place in the AL East, while Baltimore fell to 60-71, solidifying its fifth-place position.
The game started at 6:37 p.m. and lasted two hours and 24 minutes, with umpires Vic Carapazza at home plate, Nic Lentz at first base, Mark Ripperger at second and Nick Mahrley at third. Roman Anthony, Boston’s 21-year-old outfielder, opened the scoring with a solo home run to right-center in the first inning off Baltimore starter Tomoyuki Sugano, becoming the youngest player in Red Sox history to hit a leadoff homer at 21 years and 104 days. Anthony finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, boosting his season batting average to .283 with six home runs and 28 RBIs.
Colton Cowser responded for the Orioles in the second inning with a solo home run to center off Boston reliever Rich Fitts, tying the game at 1-1. Cowser, Baltimore’s left fielder, added a two-run single in the third to give the Orioles a 3-1 lead, driving in Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle after Henderson doubled and Mountcastle was hit by a pitch. Cowser went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a home run, raising his 2025 totals to 12 home runs and 30 RBIs while batting .225.
Boston rallied in the fifth during the contest when Connor Wong doubled and Anthony singled, setting up Duran’s three-run blast to center off Sugano for a 4-3 lead. Duran, who went 1-for-3 with three RBIs, now has 13 home runs and 73 RBIs on the season, batting .258. The Red Sox collected seven hits overall, with Wong adding a 2-for-4 performance including a double. Baltimore managed six hits, with Henderson doubling and scoring once, batting .283 with 30 doubles this year. The Orioles left six runners on base and hit 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, while Boston went 1-for-7 in those situations.
Fitts earned the win for Boston in the game, improving to 2-4 with a 5.00 ERA after pitching four innings and allowing three runs on two hits with six strikeouts. He relieved opener John Bernardino, who threw one scoreless inning. Steven Matz held for two innings, Garrett Whitlock struck out three in the eighth after Henderson’s leadoff double, and Aroldis Chapman secured his 25th save with a perfect ninth, maintaining a 1.06 ERA. Sugano took the loss for Baltimore, dropping to 10-6 with a 4.06 ERA after six innings of work, yielding four runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Relievers Wolfram and Cody Martin combined for three scoreless innings but could not erase the deficit.
Errors factored into the outcome, with Boston shortstop Trevor Story committing a throwing miscue in the third that allowed an unearned run, his 11th error of the season. Baltimore reliever Cody Martin had a pickoff error in the ninth. The teams turned one double play each, with Boston’s coming in the fourth.
This result underscores Boston’s push in the AL East, where they trail the leader by an unspecified margin but hold a playoff probability of over 50 percent based on current projections. The Red Sox have won eight of their last 10 games, bolstered by young talents like Anthony, a 2022 first-round draft pick from West Palm Beach, Florida, who has impressed since his call-up. Baltimore, meanwhile, has struggled, losing seven of its last 10, with a playoff odds below 1 percent as the season winds down. The Orioles’ rotation, featuring international signee Sugano, has shown flashes but lacks consistency.
