BOSTON — 

If it’s not one thing, it’s another for the faltering Red Sox.

They lost to the Orioles in 13 innings last night, 6-4, not scoring a run after the fifth inning. Boston has dropped three straight games at Fenway and has fallen to 11-14. The Sox are already seven games out of first in the AL East.

It is the third straight season the Red Sox have begun the season at 11-14, the worst string of slow starts in 40 years. Boston was 9-16 in 1972, 11-14 in ’73 and 10-15 in 1974.

When Boston has had good pitching, it fails to hit. And sometimes when it hits a lot, its pitchers cannot take advantage. Right now, the Sox are faltering at home after a fine road trip.

“We’re playing the same kind of ball,” manager Bobby Valentine said, “but we’re not getting the big hit, and that’s because we’re not getting the pitches to do it with.”

Franklin Morales gave up two runs in the 14th and took the loss. That nullified a very strong effort by some other Sox relievers, one of them being Alfredo Aceves. He went 2-2/3 innings and struck out six.

Jon Lester failed to even his record at 2-2 despite leaving the game with the lead after six innings. The no-decision maintained his career record versus Baltimore at 14-0.

Valentine said that it looked as though Lester was “fighting the umpire” early, the plate ump being Jim Reynolds.

“I think everything I throw is a strike,” Lester said. “I went back and looked at the tape, and they were balls. I’ve got to do a better job of controlling my emotions out there.”

Vicente Padilla blew the save in the seventh. It was the fourth blown save by the Red Sox bullpen this season, although two came in the same loss.

Lester’s struggles to return to All-Star form continued as he gave up three runs in six innings. In his last six starts of 2011, Lester was 1-4 and allowed 19 earned runs in 31-2/3 innings. In his first six starts of 2012, he is 1-2 and has allowed 19 earned runs in 33 innings.

That adds up to a 2-6 record and 5.29 ERA over his last 12 starts.

“Other than the home run (by Mark Reynolds) in the third,” Lester said, “I thought the early innings were pretty good. Things kind of got away from me in the fourth a little bit.”

Boston led after two, 1-0. Lester gave the lead right back, though, when he served up a fat pitch to Reynolds in the top of the third. Batting .136 at the time, Reynolds drove it well over the Monster seats for his first home run of 2012.

The Red Sox then rallied in the fourth to give Lester another lead, this time scoring twice. Lester, however, immediately coughed up the lead again.

He walked Adam Jones leading off the fourth, then gave up an extremely short triple to Matt Wieters. He poked a little fly ball down the right field line, and it landed just fair before the foul pole, then rolled past Cody Ross to make it a 3-2 game.

Wilson Betemit followed with a single to center, and it was 3-3.

Boston scored in the fifth, the Orioles in the seventh, and nobody scored again until Chris Davis singled in what proved to be the winning run in the 13th.

BOSTON (AP) The Baltimore Orioles patiently came back from three different deficits then took their first lead when it mattered most.

The Orioles scored twice in the top of the 13th inning to outlast the Boston Red Sox 6-4 on Friday night.

Chris Davis drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the 13th, Mark Reynolds added a sacrifice fly and Jim Johnson put Boston down in order to end the game after 4 hours and 37 minutes.

Five Baltimore relievers combined to shut out the Red Sox once the bullpen took over for starter Wei-Yin Chen, who was pulled after reaching 100 pitches in just five innings.

”Everybody’s contributing,” said Reynolds, who hit his first homer of the season in the third. ”It’s just fun to play behind these guys. They throw strikes and keep us in games. That’s all you can ask for.”

The Orioles overcame three errors and a passed ball in the first two innings to win for the ninth time in 11 games.

Troy Patton (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings and Johnson picked up his eighth save.

Baltimore’s five relievers allowed a total of three hits.

”As a defense that’s all you ask for. It’s a pitching staff that’s going to go after the hitters and let us work,” center fielder Adam Jones said. ”The starting pitching has been outstanding. The bullpen, if there’s a word better than outstanding, that’s what they’ve been.”

Franklin Morales (0-1) allowed two hits in 2-3 of an inning in Boston’s eighth loss in its last nine home games.

”Everyone wants to play well at home, but we haven’t. We’ve got to figure out how to do that,” said Dustin Pedroia, who was 2 for 5 and scored a run for Boston. ”We just couldn’t find a way to score a run there when we needed to. It’s tough.”

Matt Wieters hit a one-out single off Morales in the top of the 13th and Wilson Betemit walked before Davis singled to right. Boston manager Bobby Valentine then brought in reliever Scott Atchison, who allowed Reynolds’ sac fly to center.

Adrian Gonzalez had three hits for the Red Sox, who took three different leads but couldn’t hang on to any of them.

The Red Sox had a chance to pull ahead in the bottom of the eighth when David Ortiz led off with a walk, but he got caught going too far on a line drive by Cody Ross. Shortstop J.J. Hardy made a diving grab then from his knees threw a strike to first in time to double up Ortiz.

”That’s first and second with no outs. I would say that was a very big play in the game,” Boston manager Bobby Valentine said. ”That looked like it was by him when he caught it, David was kind of holding up.”

Boston’s Jon Lester lasted only slightly longer than Chen, going six innings before Vicente Padilla started the seventh with the Red Sox holding a 4-3 lead. That ended quickly when Baltimore loaded the bases with nobody out. Hardy grounded into a double play, allowing Reynolds to score – snapping a streak of 11 straight scoreless innings by Boston relievers over the last three games.

Will Middlebrooks, playing in just his second major league game, hustled for a double to lead off the fifth and scored on Pedroia’s single for a 4-3 Boston lead.

”I just think everybody knows when it’s their turn,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. ”So far we’re going to be able to pass the load around, and when it’s their time to contribute, it bodes well for their health and the rest factor.”

The Orioles had three errors before the second inning was over, then a passed ball by catcher Ronny Paulino allowed Ross to score and put Boston up 1-0.

Reynolds snapped an 0-for-13 skid with a leadoff homer over the Green Monster in the third to tie it 1-all, then Boston took the lead right back with a pair of runs in the third.

NOTES: RHP Aaron Cook, signed by Boston as a free agent in January, is scheduled to make his Red Sox debut Saturday after going 3-0 for Triple-A Pawtucket. Cook will start in place of Josh Beckett, who has had some stiffness after his last two starts. … Reynolds’ homer in the third was his first of the season. He went without a home run in April for the first time in his career. … Ross lost his grip while striking out in the fifth and the bat sailed high over Baltimore’s dugout and – fortunately – landed in an aisle without hitting anybody. … Lester was 14-0 with a 2.36 ERA in 18 career starts against Baltimore entering the game. … Boston RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka was scheduled to make his third rehab start Friday night for Triple-A Pawtucket, but has a problem with his neck. He is tentatively scheduled to start Monday against Rochester. … The Orioles placed OF Nolan Reimold on the 15-day disabled list with a herniated disc and recalled C Luis Exposito from Triple-A Norfolk. … Joe Torre, MLB’s executive vice president for baseball operations, changed an official scorer’s decision and gave Nick Johnson an additional double in Tuesday night’s game against the Yankees. Torre took an error away from left fielder Eduardo Nunez, who allowed the ball to fall. That made both runs earned off Boone Logan.

It was only the top of the first inning when Baltimore Orioles left fielder Nolan Reimold was hit in the side of the head by a 2-1 fastball from Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Alex Cobb.

Reimold, batting fifth, immediately dropped to the ground and was facedown for several minutes while a hushed crowd watched as Orioles trainers tended to him.

The 28-year-old was taken to Peace River Hospital, and CT scans came back negative, although he does have a loose tooth.

“The lowlight was Nolan getting hit and the highlight was finding out he didn’t have a break,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said after the Orioles and Rays played to a 3-3 tie in 10 innings. “I didn’t like his chances.

“He’s been through a lot. That’s what was going on through my head. He was going to get a chance to play this year, and everything is in order, and standing out there with him, your heart’s in your throat for no other reason than his health.”

The incident affected both teams, and especially Cobb, who got Reimold’s phone number and plans to check up on him.

“It’s probably the worst feeling you can have as a pitcher, seeing something like that and being the cause of a guy taking a step back in his career possibly,” Cobb said. “It’s just something you never want to see on the baseball field, and when you’re the cause of it, it’s a feeling you can’t describe.”

Cobb recovered to pitch three scoreless innings, giving up two hits and two walks in his first start of the spring. Cobb had season-ending surgery in August to remove a blood clot as well as blockage in his right rib.

Baltimore right-hander Jake Arrieta, making his first start since his own season-ending elbow surgery in August, pitched two scoreless innings for Baltimore, giving up only a walk and striking out one.

“That’s really the best I’ve felt, not only this year, spring training, but I think in my entire professional career altogether,” Arrieta said. “I feel like I could have thrown the whole game today – no soreness, no tightness. Just an incredible feeling now.”

Notes: The Rays named RHP James Shields their opening day starter Friday. … X-rays were negative for Rays SS Sean Rodriguez (left index finger sprain) and he should be playing in 2-3 days. … Rays 3B Evan Longoria (bruised hand) said he felt great after taking batting practice and fielding drills Friday. … Orioles RHP Jason Berken (strained left hamstring) suffered a setback, Showalter said. It’s unlikely he’ll be able to start his season with Baltimore. … Orioles 3B Mark Reynolds, C Taylor Teagarden and RHP Matt Lindstrom all have back tightness and did not travel with the team Friday. … C Ronny Paulino, whose arrival has been stalled by visa issues, could report Saturday, Showalter said.