A look at the Orioles-Boston season series and other notes

Here is a look at this year's season series stats between the Orioles and Boston. The Orioles lead the series, seven wins to six, going 4-3 at home and 3-3 on the road. Average: Orioles .229, Boston .230 Runs per game: Orioles 3.5, Boston 4.1 Homers: Orioles 15, Boston 16 OPS: Orioles .682, Boston .693 Errors: Orioles 2, Boston 9 ERA: Orioles 4.04, Boston 3.21. Manny Machado has hit .370 this year (20-for-54) in those 13 games with six doubles, three homers and 12 RBIs. Chris Davis is batting .250 (12-for-48) with three doubles, five homers and 11 RBIs. Matt Wieters is hitting just .102 (5-for-49) with one homer and four RBIs. The Orioles are the only AL East team with a winning record against Boston in 2013 while the Red Sox are 34-20 against the rest of the division. The Orioles are 16-9 in their last 25 games and 26-14 in their last 40 against the Red Sox. But, as I detailed this morning in this entry, Boston is red hot right now. The Orioles have a real challenge the next three nights at Fenway. As they go into the final 13 games of the regular season, the 2013 Orioles cannot match the win total of the 2012 Birds. Even an unbeaten 13-0 finish wouldn't do it. That would put them at 92-70 and leave the O's a win shy of last year's team. Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster is 1-2 with a 6.05 ERA over his last seven starts, since Aug. 1. But Boston is 6-1 in those games and 10-1 in Dempster's last 11 starts. O's starter Scott Feldman has pitched seven, nine and 7 2/3 innings over his last three starts. No Orioles pitcher has had four straight starts of seven or more innings on the year. The Orioles are 26-27 since the All-Star break and they have lost four of their last six series. They are just 14-18 over the last 32 games. Can this team suddenly get hot and have a big week against the Red Sox and Rays? It is probably a must to have any realistic playoff hopes going into the season's final week. A loss tonight would officially eliminate the Orioles from AL East contention.