BALTIMORE -- It was a bittersweet night for John Smoltz.

The veteran right-hander made his second start for Boston Tuesday night at Camden Yards and was in the midst of a solid performance when the rains came in the top of the fifth inning with the Red Sox leading, 9-1. The delay lasted 1 hour and 11 minutes, and the Sox decided not to bring Smoltz back when play resumed.

His outing lasted only four innings and 52 pitches, and it seemed as if the rains would cost him his first victory in a Boston uniform. That point become moot, obviously, after the colossal collapse of the Red Sox bullpen led to an 11-10 defeat.

"That's a shame the weather came, because I thought as the game progressed he got stronger," said manager Terry Francona. "His slider got stronger and he felt good about himself."

But, Francona added, "After that [long a] delay, we can't [bring him back]."

Smoltz, who allowed one run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts, agreed with the decision. In fact, once the delay passed the 45-minute mark, he told Francona and pitching coach John Farrell that he shouldn't continue.

"I tried everything I could," said Smoltz, who threw in the batting cages during the delay to stay loose. "But as I said to John and Terry, I'm no fool. It's a long season, and it's more important than a [personal] win.

"It's unfortunate the way Mother Nature played it out," he continued. "It caused a lot of changes and a lot of different things. This was one of those games where you feel like you're going to go six or seven innings because of the lead and then the rain comes and kind of resets everything. No one would have ever dreamed what was going to unfold after that. It was one of those crazy games."

It didn't start out that way. Smoltz retired seven of the first eight batters he faced and surrendered his first hit, a single to the Orioles' Robert Andino, in the bottom of the third inning. Later that inning Baltimore center fielder Felix Pie hit a RBI triple, the only run Smoltz allowed.

"I got better and better [as the game went on]," he said. "My slider is getting better. The think you're going to learn about me, I want to be perfect and there are some things I still want to work on.

"The frustration, besides the obvious, was I really could have worked on some things for the next two innings. [In baseball], they say, if you stick around you'll see everything and tonight was one of those games."

Smoltz said he struggled during his pregame warmup, but once the game started he was locating all his pitches effectively and was in control until the rains came.

"I really felt like I was going to go deep into the game," he said.

Had he been able to do so, the outcome might have been different.

jmcdonal@projo.com