Lester and Red Sox blank O's 5-0 to take the series

The Orioles had won their last four games when facing Jon Lester. The Orioles had won six straight series against Boston. Both streaks ended today. It was not the Sunday the Orioles wanted. Lester threw seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits. Jason Hammel's winless streak reached 10 starts as Boston beat the Orioles 5-0 in front of 32,891 at Camden Yards. In going 25-11 in their previous 36 games against the Red Sox, the O's had not lost back-to-back games against Boston. Now they have. Falling to 58-48 with their fifth loss in six games, the Orioles were shut out for the fourth time. Hammel went 5 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and three runs (all earned) with five walks and three strikeouts. Hammel falls to 7-8 with a 5.20 ERA. He struggled to throw strikes today and fell behind many hitters. After not walking more than three in a game all year, he walked four his last start and five today. Mike Napoli's two-out, RBI double in the first gave Boston a 1-0 lead. David Ortiz added a two-run homer in the third to make it 3-0. He hit No. 20 on a Hammel 2-0 pitch. Hammel is winless in 10 starts since May 27 and has an ERA of 6.49 in nine Camden Yards starts on the season. On offense, the Orioles had a frustrating middle three innings, stranding five runners over the fourth, fifth and sixth. With two on and no outs in the sixth, Lester struck out Matt Wieters when he chased a high 3-2 pitch and then got J.J. Hardy to ground into a double play. Chris Davis went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts today. Over his last four games, Davis has fanned 11 times in 15 at-bats and has now struck out at least once in 22 straight games. After taking Monday off, the Orioles host Houston on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.