O's once again have Porcello's number
BALTIMORE -- The Orioles won their third straight game and their fifth in the past six, clinching the series with a 5-2 victory over the Red Sox on Wednesday night at Camden Yards. It marks just the second time this season that Baltimore has won three in a row and the seventh straight game in which the club has given up three runs or fewer.
"Lately, whether it's game-calling, catching the ball, making a good pitch, kind of staying in the moment. I think guys' games have improved, and it's showing the result on the scoreboard," said Orioles reliever Darren O'Day, who struck out the side in the ninth to earn the save.
Video: BOS@BAL: O'Day strikes out side, gets two-inning save
The Orioles touched Red Sox starter Rick Porcello for five runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings as the right-hander continued to struggle against Baltimore this season. Porcello, who lost his fourth straight start, is 0-2 against the Orioles in 2015, allowing 17 earned runs over 16 1/3 innings (9.37 ERA) in three starts. He entered the game 3-6 with a 5.21 ERA in 11 career starts against the O's.
"I am not looking at the numbers right now," Porcello said. "I'm looking at going out there and making the adjustments that I have to do to help us win games. The numbers, they are what they are. I just have to keep working hard and pushing forward."
Boston was able to get to Baltmore starter Wei-Yin Chen, who lasted five-plus innings and gave up seven hits, two runs and one walk while recording five strikeouts. The Red Sox threatened on multiple occasions, but the O's defense was at a premium, including three nice plays from Adam Jones in center field.
Video: BOS@BAL: Jones jumps, reaches out to make fine catch
"There was deep at-bats and a number of hard-hit balls they made some nice defensive plays on," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "We were not able to bunch some hits together to get on the scoreboard more than we were. I felt we played with good intensity and good energy tonight. The shutdown inning was the difference in this one."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Orioles score in bunches: The O's grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second when J.J. Hardy doubled in Delmon Young and Ryan Flaherty drove in Hardy with a single down the left-field line in the next at-bat. Jones gave Baltimore another run in the third with a single up the middle. The Orioles were able to add some insurance runs in the sixth as they opened the inning with three straight singles, one of which was an RBI hit by Travis Snider. Hardy picked up his second RBI with a sacrifice fly to right field to give Baltimore a 5-2 lead.
Video: BOS@BAL: Hardy doubles to put Orioles on the board
Have a day, Adam: Jones once again showed why he's a four-time Gold Glove winner. It started in the second inning when the Red Sox's Xander Bogaerts led off with a line drive off the center-field wall. Jones barehanded the hop and threw a one-hop dart to Hardy at second base. Bogaerts was initially ruled safe, but after a 25-second replay, the call was overturned. Two batters later, Jones tracked down a liner to left by Mookie Betts, which he hauled in with a leaping grab. He got Betts once more in the fifth on a liner into the right-center gap. Jones sprinted to his left and grabbed the ball with a full-extension dive. More >
"He doesn't cede anything," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "'Here's a ball over my head and that's a double. Now let me get to a place where if it comes off clean I've got a play.' He doesn't cede anything. It's infectious."
Video: BOS@BAL: Jones nabs Bogaerts at second after review
"I told him I would have caught that ball standing up but he didn't believe me," said Snider, who played in Pittsburgh from 2012-14. " No, getting to play next to Andrew McCutchen and now Adam Jones, I'm pretty spoiled getting to watch these guys play each night. And he's just a tremendous ballplayer and that was a tremendous play."
Boston's run drought continues: Trailing, 3-1. in the sixth, the Red Sox had runners on the corners with no outs. Baltimore righty reliever Tommy Hunter entered and struck out Hanley Ramirez. The Red Sox then caught a break when Mike Napoli hit a routine grounder that should have been an inning-ending double play. However, Flaherty bounced his throw past Chris Davis that allowed a run to score. Boston could not take further advantage as Bogaerts grounded out to end the threat. The Orioles then scored two more runs that inning and extended their lead to 5-2 and Boston never recovered. The Red Sox have scored just two runs in their past 18 innings.
"They did a great job defensively to cut down a couple of guys at second base," Farrell said. "Still, anytime we mounted a little bit of an offensive threat, they answered right back."
QUOTABLE
"I'm not playing today. What do you want me to tell you?" -- Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, on being left out of the starting lineup
"That's hard to do, OK? That's something that, you've got to have a lot of pride to do it because there's a lot of things you have to do that never get noticed to be good at it. I was looking at the ball Travis threw the guy out at second. Delmon's 30 feet behind second base for the overthrow. Those are things that you know that they get it. It's what they want to be about. There's a lot of coaches that talk about that, but it's about what the players want to be about, and they take a lot of pride in it." -- Showalter, on Orioles' defense
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Chen posted his first home win since Sept. 15, 2014, and snapped a streak of five consecutive starts in which he surrendered at least one home run. The lefty is 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA over his past six starts against Boston since April 21, 2014.
ORIOLES DEJA VU
The Red Sox started the second with back-to-back singles, but had no baserunners to show for it. There was Jones' assist in the second, but that wasn't all from the outfield in the frame. Pablo Sandoval poked a ball down the left-field line and tried to stretch it into a double, but it was Snider this time who produced the outfield assist at second. The Orioles rank first in the Major Leagues with 20 outfield assists.
Video: BOS@BAL: Snider throws out Sandoval at second
WHAT'S NEXT
Red Sox: Left-hander Wade Miley starts Thursday's 7:05 p.m. ET series finale, looking to bounce back from his previous start against the Orioles on April 26, when he took the loss by allowing seven runs (six earned) in just 2 1/3 innings. Miley has been strong recently, winning four of his past five outings to improve to 5-5.
Orioles: Chris Tillman takes the mound Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET as the O's go for a three-game sweep. Tillman picked up his first win since April 18 in his last start when he went 6 1/3 innings against the Indians. The right-hander gave up six hits, two runs, three walks and three strikeouts in the start.
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