After yet another bounceback win, O's look for series win in Boston

Despite the fact they have been written off more times than we can count and overlooked often by national analysts, the Orioles will take the field with a chance tonight to move within one game of first place with 17 games to play.

If they could pull off a huge win tonight at Fenway Park, the division title will still be very much within reach. And the team will be headed back to Baltimore for an 11-game homestand that includes four games next week with Boston.

The Orioles lost in the late innings Friday at Detroit and then won the next two games. They lost by 10 runs Monday at Fenway Park, but now have a chance to win the next two games of this series.

In 2016, it seems you can get the Orioles down but never out. They always bounce back. It was an impressive 6-3 win last night behind three homers and a gutsy pitching effort by Dylan Bundy and four relievers.

They held in check a Boston offense that had scored 45 runs its five previous games and was scoring 7.8 runs per game in September.

By the way, Bundy has now pitched three times on extra rest. Last night was his third outing with five days (and not the usual four days of) rest. He has allowed three runs in 18 innings in those outings.

More notes on the Orioles:

* The Orioles and Red Sox have split 14 games in the season series with the Orioles going 2-4 at home and 5-3 at Fenway Park.

In the 14 games, the Orioles have scored 73 runs to Boston's 82 and have hit 23 homers to 26 for the Sox. The Orioles have been out-hit with Boston batting .300 with an OPS of .887 to the Orioles' .234/.745.

Here are the batting averages of some Orioles in the season series with Boston: Matt Wieters (.135), Chris Davis (.170), Mark Trumbo (.204), Hyun Soo Kim (.217), J.J. Hardy (.227) and Jonathan Schoop (.231).

* Despite those numbers, Hardy and Schoop both homered last night. In five games this season at Fenway Park, Hardy is 5-for-16 with five extra-base hits. He has two doubles, three homers and eight RBIs.

* O's pitchers have allowed just seven runs in their last three wins over Detroit and Boston. In their five wins on this current road trip, they have allowed 11 runs.

* The Orioles hit three homers last night and have hit 11 in their past four games. They have hit 34 homers over the last 17 games and 54 in 25 games. They lead the majors with 231 for the season.

* Boston's Dustin Pedroia is 4-for-8 in this series. In 31 games since he moved to the leadoff spot he is batting .449 (57-for-127). He also has a remarkable run of 35 hits in his last 67 at-bats for a .522 batting average.

Tonight in the series finale, Kevin Gausman (7-10, 3.61 ERA) faces Rick Porcello (20-3, 3.21 ERA). Over his last four starts, Gausman has pitched to an ERA of 1.08. Meanwhile Porcello has recorded nine straight quality starts, going 7-1 with a 2.53 ERA. In 14 home starts, he is 13-0 with an ERA of 3.03.

The Orioles face a major challenge tonight at Fenway Park. Do they get the series win against Boston?