The Orioles Still Completely Own The Red Sox, For Whatever Reason

Don't get me wrong, I know the Orioles are a good team but I'd be lying if I told you that I can rationally explain why they have dominated the Red Sox the last three seasons (23-8) and are the only opponent with a winning record (4-1) against Boston so far this year. Tonight at Camden Yards, the O's (39-29 overall, 19-14 home) blanked the Red Sox (41-28 overall, 20-14 away) 2-0.

This came on the heels of Baltimore's 5-4 win in 13 innings on Thursday night. Did I mention that the Orioles have pulled within 1.5 games of the Red Sox so if they sweep Boston this weekend, they would take over first place in the AL East? Yikes, that could definitely happen.

Four pitchers combined on the shutout for the Orioles: starter Chris Tillman (7-2) threw six scoreless innings with three strikeouts, Darren O'Day (seventh), Tommy Hunter (eighth) and Jim Johnson (ninth, 24th save) all had 1-2-3 innings, hence why this game finished in a crisp 2:43.

Ryan Dempster (4-7) pitched one of his better games for the Red Sox but it wasn't good enough: 7.2 innings, 2 earned runs, 5 hits, 4 strikeouts and 5 walks. His arm might fall off (he labored through 122 pitches) but he saved Boston's bullpen since Koji Uehara only faced one batter-J.J. Hardy (who he retired on 3 pitches to end the eighth with two men on).

Baltimore had five hits, led by Manny Machado (3 for 5 with 2 doubles). Boston only had three hits as a team, two by Jose Iglesias (who extended his hit streak to 15 games) including a double.

Chris Davis, who has morphed into Miguel Cabrera Jr., hit an opposite field solo homer in the second (his 22nd of the season) and Nate McLouth scored in the third on Adam Jones' infield single.

Before they drop the puck on Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals (8, NBC), John Lackey (3-5) faces Freddy Garcia (3-3) tomorrow afternoon (4:05, NESN) as the Red Sox try to find a way to beat the Orioles.

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Red Sox Serve As A Small Speed Bump As Orioles Tie Yankees For 1st Place In AL East

Once in a while in MLB, there is a great team that defies explanation. The Orioles are 28-9 in one-run games and 72-0 when leading after seven innings in 2012.

After the O's (91-67, 46-34 home) beat the Red Sox (69-89, 35-42 away) 4-3 tonight at an extremely rare sold-out Camden Yards, Baltimore is tied with New York (who lost 3-2 in Toronto this afternoon) for first place in the AL East with four games remaining.

Two more unlikely stars in a season full of them stepped up tonight for the Orioles as rookie Manny Machado and Chris Davis provided all the offense for a team that seems to be firing on all cylinders headed into October. Machado had an RBI single in the second and Davis hit a two-run homer (his 30th of the season) in the fourth inning for a 3-0 Orioles lead.

Boston tied it on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's two-run homer (his 25th of the season) in the fifth and a sacrifice fly by Cody Ross in the sixth. Machado's solo homer (his 7th of the season) provided the winning run in the seventh.

In his last start of the season, Felix Doubront (11-10) had his typical up and down performance which is how you could describe almost all of his starts in 2012. He went seven innings and struck out 10 which is good. However, he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits including a pair of homers. Hopefully over the off-season, he realizes that strikeouts are overrated and innings/outs are way more important.

Steve Johnson (who?) went five innings for Baltimore, he allowed three earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Tommy Hunter (7-8) threw two scoreless innings of relief for the win and Orioles closer Jim Johnson had a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout for his MLB-high 49th save.

Joe Saunders (8-13) gets the ball tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m.) as Baltimore wraps up a sweep of the three-game set with Boston. Zach Stewart (1-3) plays the role of sacrificial lamb in his second start for the Red Sox. Godspeed son.

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Chris Tillman Threw A Gem & Ryan Flaherty Hit A Grand Slam As O's Crushed Red Sox 9-1

How do you know your season should have been over months ago? When luminaries like Chris Tillman and Ryan Flaherty are having career-nights against you.

Baltimore (90-67, 45-34) simply crushed Boston (69-88, 35-41 away) 9-1 at Camden Yards tonight in a series opener that didn't feel nearly that close. The Orioles remain one game back of the Yankees and comfortably sitting two games ahead of the Angels (one ahead of the A's) for the top AL wild card.

The only hit for the Red Sox in the entire game was a lead-off bunt by Scott Podsednik-the first batter of the game. Not getting no-hit allows them to shoot for something in their last five painful games.

Even if nobody has ever heard of him, Tillman (9-2) seems like a promising young pitcher (24) that is having a nice season. He went eight innings, struck out four and walked two.

This was over in a rapid 2:23, I guess Boston wanted to enjoy that legendary Baltimore nightlife, but the O's did most of their work in the first inning. Chris Davis hit a two-run homer (his 29th of the season) then Portland, Maine's Ryan Flaherty hit his first career grand slam (6th homer of the season) to make it 6-1.

In what could have been his last start in MLB, Aaron Cook (4-11) pitched like a guy that has nothing left and should hang it up immediately. He went 1+ innings and was charged with six earned runs. Alfredo Aceves was happy to add some gasoline to that fire as he gave up the other three runs on six hits.

Manny Machado (2 for 4, 2 runs) and Flaherty added RBI doubles in the fifth and Taylor Teagarden had an RBI single. Jim Thome was 3 for 4 with a run and Mark Reynolds had a double, two runs and a walk. Gee, do you think the Orioles are a team of destiny or what?

Boston's only run came courtesy of Dustin Pedroia (walk, stolen base) who drove in Podsednik with a sacrifice fly in the first. Yes, the Red Sox led 1-0 for the briefest of moments.

Felix Doubront (11-9) faces something called Steve Johnson (4-0) tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN) who I'm sure will be lights out. Be sure to not watch a second of it.

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Now Seems Like A Perfect Time For Felix Doubront's Best Start Of His Career

I thought Felix Doubront should have been shut down weeks ago since what was the point of still running him out there? He's one of Boston's few pitching prospects that has a bright future.

For one day, the Red Sox (69-85, 34-45 home) proved there was some method to their madness as he helped them beat the Orioles (87-65, 45-33) 2-1 this afternoon at Fenway Park.

The win allowed Boston to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of Baltimore which wasn't hurt too badly since New York lost to Oakland, keeping them one game back in the AL East and one game ahead of the A's for the top AL wild card spot.

Doubront received a no-decision but that won't stop me from raving about his outing which I saw about three seconds of: he went seven innings and allowed one earned run on four hits with 11 strikeouts (a career-high) and two walks.

Junichi Tazawa (1-1) had a 1-2-3 eighth inning on six pitches and closer Andrew Bailey survived two hits and a walk (loading the bases) to record his sixth save. He forced Manny Machado into a fielder's choice then struck out Ryan Flaherty to end it.

Chris Tillman gave Baltimore a solid start: six innings, one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk. Today the thing that will likely bury them in the playoffs-their lack of offense-bit them in the ass.

Cody Ross scored on Robert Andino's throwing error in the fourth as Boston led 1-0. Machado tied it with an RBI single in the fifth but Ross responded with an RBI double in the eighth which plated Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, double).

Scott Podsednik added two hits in the win. Afterwards, Ross admitted that he has already started negotiations with the Red Sox on a new contract since he's currently playing on a 1-year deal. It would be one of the only smart decisions Boston has made in the last few seasons, Ross has done everything and more you could ask of him in this trying year (his first here).

The Red Sox are off tomorrow then they host the Rays (83-70, 3rd in AL East; 3.5 out in wild card) for two games. Mercifully, it's the last series at Fenway in 2012. Personally I can't wait for Spooky World to open there in October, forget playoff baseball. That's way more fun and important.

Clay Buchholz (11-6) will face David Price (18-5) on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN) for the second time in a week. Jon Lester (9-13) takes on Alex Cobb (9-9) on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN). Boston won two of three in Tampa Bay last week at the Trop.

UPDATE 9/24: Yesterday, the Red Sox recalled outfield Che-Hsuan Lin. I don't know why they didn't do this earlier since he's just been sitting around since Pawtucket's season ended last week. Weird.

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Out Of Nowhere, The Orioles Are Having Some Kind Of Insane Regular Season

Nobody and I mean nobody expected the Orioles to be .500 in 2012, let alone jockeying with the Yankees for first-place in the AL East and in firm control of a wild card spot. Somehow devoid of a superstar (Adam Jones and Matt Wieters are very good players but not really at that level) or ace pitcher, Baltimore finds itself on the cusp of its first playoff bid since 1997.

Obviously with a team that comes out of nowhere like this, they will possess many insane statistics but my favorite is this: the Orioles (87-64, 45-32 away) won their 16th straight extra innings game this afternoon with a 9-6 win in 12 innings over the Red Sox (68-85, 33-45 home) at Fenway Park.

Boston fell to 0-7 in extra innings games this season at home and 2-9 overall. Baltimore led 6-3 but Boston scored twice in the seventh on a pair of RBI ground outs then tied it on Scott Podsednik's (double, run) RBI double in the eighth.

Once it got to extra innings, you knew the Orioles had this one wrapped up. The only question was who would the heroes be? If you said Jim Thome (RBI double), Endy Chavez (RBI single) and Manny Machado (RBI single; 3 for 6, run) you truly have a special gift.

Baltimore closer Jim Johnson extended his franchise record by tossing a scoreless 12th for his 47th save of the season.

Consider me shocked that Randy Wolf (5 innings, 3 earned runs, 7 hits, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks) and Aaron Cook (5.1 innings, 5 earned runs, 9 hits, 1 strikeout, 2 walks) didn't have the instant classic pitcher's duel that wasn't predicted by anybody in the world.

Adam Jones (2 hits, double, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) had an RBI ground out in first which gave the O's a 1-0 lead. Ryan Lavarnway (2 RBIs) tied it with an RBI single in the home half of the frame. Baltimore tacked on a run in the second on Machado's RBI single then all or nothing slugger Mark Reynolds connected for a solo homer (his 22nd of the season) as Baltimore opened up a 3-1 lead in the fourth.

Danny Valencia tied it with a two-run bomb (his 3rd of the season) in the fourth. Portland Maine's Ryan Flaherty (2 for 4, double, 2 RBIs, 2 walks) had a two-run triple in the sixth and Jones cranked a solo shot in the seventh (his 31st of the season).

Alfredo Aceves (2-10) was charged with all three runs in the 12th so he received yet another loss in what has been a nightmare second half for the mercurial pitcher. I wouldn't put it past him to intentionally tank just to spite Bobby V. He's that batshit crazy.

Baltimore will look for a three-game sweep tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) as Chris Tillman (8-2) faces Felix Doubront (11-9). On an NFL Sunday aka Red Zone to the face time, it would take a large sum of money for me to watch that game let alone take time out of my precious day to attend it.

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