Frustrating loss: O's fall 4-3 to Red Sox at Camden Yards

Right-hander Dean Kremer had a solid, if not long, outing. Cedric Mullins hit another home run. Orioles pitching got out of a bases-loaded jam in the Boston seventh when the Red Sox had a chance to extend a one-run lead.

But after all that, the Orioles still could not beat Boston at home.

The Red Sox beat the Orioles 4-3 on a frustrating day in Birdland as Boston improved its major league-best record to 22-13, and the Orioles fall to 15-19 overall and to 4-13 at home.

The Orioles lose this series and are 0-4-1 in five home series. The Orioles match a season-low point, falling four games under the .500 mark.

The visiting team is 9-0 this season in the Orioles-Red Sox games and has won 10 in a row dating to last year.

Rafael Devers, who was 1-for-6 in the first two games of this series, drove in three runs today. He homered off Kremer in the second and produced a go-ahead, two-run double to right-center in the sixth off Adam Plutko. That gave Boston a 3-2 lead.

Devers began today batting .389 (14-for-36) with runners in scoring position. And he was tied for the lead in the majors in game-tying or go-ahead RBIs this season (10) and since the beginning of 2019 (63).

Kremer was real good through five, allowing one run on three hits. But the top of the order picked up a pair of singles against him in the sixth and manager Brandon Hyde called on right-hander Plutko, who had allowed six of 15 inherited runners to score. Then he walked J.D. Martinez and the bases were loaded with no outs. Plutko fanned Xander Bogaerts, but Devers' delivered his big double when he came through against a high fastball on a 2-2 count against Plutko.

Kremer left with a 2-1 lead, but gave up three runs and five hits over five-plus innings on 85 pitches. He threw his four-seamer 66 percent today, using that pitch 56 times. Kremer is now 0-3 with an ERA of 6.23 through six starts.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the first on Ryan Mountcastle's RBI single to center. They broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth when Mullins homered to center off Boston starter Nick Pivetta. Mullins got a middle-middle first-pitch changeup and hit his sixth homer to put the Orioles briefly ahead.

Before the 2021 season, Mullins had hit seven career home runs in 418 plate appearances with a .342 slugging percentage. This year, he has hit six in 148 plate appearances with a slugging percentage to begin today of .515.

Down 4-2 in the eighth, Mountcastle's RBI double cut the deficit to 4-3 and gave him a two-RBI day. But Matt Barnes got the save in the ninth, needing just nine pitches in a 1-2-3 inning.

The Orioles began play Saturday night with a 10-1 record when scoring first. Now they are 10-3.

The Orioles need to win on Monday night in the series finale to avoid being swept four in a row. Right-hander RHP Jorge López (1-3, 6.49 ERA) pitches against left-hander Martín Pérez (0-2, 4.40 ERA).