Showalter: "We still feel like it's there for us if we can get the momentum needed"

Chris Davis lined a single past a drawn-in infield to score the winning run tonight in the 13th inning, rounded first base and made a mad dash toward the dugout to avoid another water-bottle shower.

The walk-off wins never get old, but he wouldn't mind staying dry.

The Orioles, meanwhile, are staying alive. Their 6-5 victory over the Red Sox at Camden Yards gave them six wins in their last seven games. They're two games below .500 for the first time since Aug. 28.

The Orioles have won three straight series for the first time since June 19-28. They're 5 1/2 games behind for the second wild card.

"You get a little crispness back in the air and it reminds everybody what fall baseball is like," said manager Buck Showalter. "We still feel like it's there for us if we can get the momentum needed. It starts with good pitching, which we had tonight with the exception of that one inning."

The 13th inning began with Gerardo Parra's leadoff walk and heads-up baserunning that took him to third base on Manny Machado's single into right-center field. Left-hander Robbie Ross replaced Jonathan Aro and Davis, batting .299 against southpaws before tonight, lined his single into right field.

"I thought one of the key plays was Parra going from first to third there," Showalter said. "That's a baseball player play and that's something you can't equivocate with analytics or anything. That's just a baseball player making a play, knowing they're playing deep with no doubles and ball taking him away from his target on glove side. It's a tough throw."

Machado made a couple of outstanding defensive plays and also homered before his single in the 13th.

"He's so impactful," Showalter said. "We don't take him for granted and I hope nobody does. It's impactful at third base. Who knows what kind of shortstop he'd be, but he's a difference-maker at third base because the plays that he makes. And you watch how good his clock as become over there. He knows the runners, he knows when he has to hurry and when he doesn't have to hurry.

"J.J. (Hardy) made a good read on a double play ball the inning before, and of course Chris has been dialing up our needs for a while now."

Machado has 29 home runs this season, 28 as a third baseman - the second-highest total for an Orioles third baseman behind Tony Batista's 30 in 2002.

The bullpen allowed one run - the Travis Shaw home run off Brian Matusz that tied the game in the eighth - in eight innings. Zach Britton and Darren O'Day were used again. Brad Brach tossed two scoreless innings, striking out three batters, and Chaz Roe got the win with a scoreless top of the 13th inning.

"It's that time," Showalter said. "You do things all through the year so when you get to September you can push the envelope a little bit."

The expanded roster comes in handy, except Showalter didn't really dip into it.

"Well, we really didn't use anybody who wouldn't have been on it," he said. "Didn't run, didn't pinch-hit and we used the people who have been here most of the year with the exception of Mychal (Givens), and he's been here a good deal. But it makes you feel better. We still had Mac (T.J. McFarland) left there. I was trying to save him for long tomorrow.

"We had to push the envelope on some guys today that we normally don't. That's Darren and Zach's third day with very few pitches each day except for tonight. Chaz looked more like himself tonight. That was good to see. Really good innings out of the bullpen."

O'Day logged his 10th scoreless appearance over his last 11 outings, posting a 0.93 ERA in 9 2/3 innings during that stretch. Britton extended his scoreless streak to seven games. Pablo Sandoval's single tonight was the only hit allowed during that stretch and Britton hasn't issued a walk. He also has 12 strikeouts during the streak.

"I was trying to get through without having to use Darren and Zach," Showalter said. "That's why I didn't pitch Zach in the ninth. I was trying to keep one of them available for tomorrow. But we used all our bullets needed for a W for the Orioles. We'll see what tomorrow brings."

Starter Ubaldo Jimenez walked in a run in the third inning and gave up three runs in the fifth.

"Ubaldo was good," Showalter said. "That one inning got him. He was pretty crisp."

Davis has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, batting .413/.550/935 (19-for-46) with 15 RBIs. He's batting .300/.394/.643 with 68 RBIs since June 20.

The Orioles have nine walk-off victories this season and Davis has accounted for three of them.

Is this team still going unnoticed?

"I like the part when you get noticed at the end," Showalter said, "when you're playing in the playoffs."