In the rubber match of a three-game series at Fenway Park, the Baltimore bats matched the rising heat, coming out red hot with a six-run explosion in the first inning, setting them off on an 8-2 victory Thursday afternoon. Taylor Ward got the party going immediately, lacing the first pitch of the game a Statcast-projected 402 feet to dead center field for a double before scoring on an Adley Rutschman single two batters later. “It’s huge,” said Ward, who had two first-inning hits and three total on the day. “Of course, whenever you can jump out to a big lead like that, it’s great. I think it helps our starter that day, as well. Hopefully, today was the start of something.” “It was a great job by our offense coming out ready from pitch one,” manager Craig Albernaz explained. “Obviously, \[Ward\
