Behind seven strong innings from David Price, Boston polished off a four-game sweep of the Orioles with a 5-3 win on Thursday at Camden Yards.
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After leading the AL East for much of the season, the Baltimore Orioles are now six games back in the division with 10 games remaining. With 13 victories in their last 16 games, the Red Sox have a magic number of five to clinch the division crown. Hot slugger Hanley Ramirez drove in one of those runs in the first inning.
Anibal Sanchez allowed one run and two hits in five innings in a spot start, and Alex Wilson (4-0), Shane Green and Mark Lowe finished the five-hitter.
While this was happening, a montage of Ortiz home runs against the loathed New York Yankees played in the background, so that fans of both clubs could watch with enjoyment.
Anderson (9-11) worked into the sixth inning and held the Pirates to a run on four hits with a walk, with the only run from a solo home run by Francisco Cervelli in the fifth inning.
Although Mychal Givens and Zach Britton shut down the Red Sox for the rest of the game, Baltimore could not muster a response and Kimbrel struck J.J. Hardy and Hyun Soo Kim out swinging in the ninth.
With it, they stretched their run of wins to seven and closed in on the American League (AL) East title.
The Orioles’ inconsistent offense is on a downturn trend in the Boston series.
Red Sox: Winless in his last five starts, Drew Pomeranz (2-5, 4.91 ERA) faces the Rays in the start of a three-game series. He’s bashed 539 homers, stroked 631 doubles and driven in 1,763 runs over 20 seasons (2,399 games). Benintendi’s single knocked home Shaw, but the rookie was caught taking second to end the inning.
The Angels ended an 11-game skid and dropped the Astros 1 1/2 games behind Detroit for the second wild card. Baltimore has just five runs in the first three games. The game will be played at the neutral site of FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins, in Landover, Maryland. Throughout his prolific career, Ortiz has averaged 27 home runs a season and a.286 batting average.
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NEW YORK (AP) – Steven Matz is tentatively scheduled to return to the Mets’ rotation Friday night against the Phillies and will be limited to around 50-60 pitches.
