Miley off the mark again in 12-2 loss

BOSTON - How much longer will Wade Miley stay in the Orioles' rotation?

Six starters for five spots. The numbers work against Miley. All of the numbers.

Miley turned in his shortest start with the Orioles tonight, leaving after 1 1/3 innings and five runs on the board. Vance Worley inherited a bases-loaded mess in the second and walked Hanley Ramirez with two outs to force in a sixth run.

The Red Sox scored in each of the first seven innings and the Orioles lost 12-2 before 37,551 at Fenway Park to fall three games back in the American League East. They're no longer tied with the Blue Jays for the top wild card.

Miley was charged with six runs and eight hits, throwing 41 pitches before manager Buck Showalter came out of the dugout. He didn't get the proper support behind him, but the Red Sox hit plenty of balls hard.

They sent eight batters to the plate in the first and Chris Young did the Orioles a favor by breaking too soon for second base and getting thrown out to end the inning. Miley retired one batter in the second and was done after back-to-back singles by Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts and a walk to David Ortiz.

Miley has made eight starts with the Orioles and allowed 33 earned runs (34 total) and 53 hits in 35 1/3 innings for an 8.41 ERA. He's lost five of six decisions.

His previous shortest outing came on Aug. 19 when he lasted only 1 2/3 innings against the Astros.

Chris Tillman came off the disabled list yesterday to join Miley, Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman, Ubaldo Jimenez and Yovani Gallardo in the rotation. Gallardo has been pushed back to Thursday against the Rays at Camden Yards.

Jimenez suddenly has been pushed back to 2010, the year he was really, really good.

Showalter will be asked later tonight about Miley's status in the rotation. He probably won't have an immediate answer.

Miley came to the Orioles in a July 31 trade with the Mariners for left-hander Ariel Miranda, who's 3-1 with a 4.28 ERA in seven games, including six starts. He was supposed to provide innings while working at a brisk pace. Another fast exit wasn't meant to be part of the equation.

Worley allowed a run in the third on Young's leadoff double, an infield hit for Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley Jr.'s sacrifice fly. Hanley Ramirez hit a long solo home run to left field with two outs in the fourth to give Boston an 8-2 lead and Young led off the fifth with a homer to make it 9-2.

David Ortiz hit a solo home run off Oliver Drake in the sixth, Brian Duensing allowed two hits in the seventh and the Orioles' bullpen again couldn't stop the bleeding. Jayson Aquino resurfaced in the eighth and actually kept the Red Sox from scoring.

Chris Davis hit his 37th home run off David Price in the second inning and Manny Machado hit his 35th in the fourth, both solo shots that accounted for the Orioles' only hits. Price went eight innings, striking out Drew Stubbs to end his final inning. He didn't walk a batter and struck out nine.

The game came apart for the Orioles in the first inning. The Red Sox collected four runs and five hits before Miley recorded his first out. Mookie Betts had a two-run double to make him 23-for-51 (.451) with four doubles, eight home runs and 19 RBIs against the Orioles this season. Two runs scored on Ramirez's RBI single because Betts, after holding at third, raced home when left fielder Steve Pearce bobbled the ball, held it and threw back to the infield.

Pearce couldn't hold onto Ortiz's drive to left-center field earlier in the inning, allowing Boston to load the bases with no outs. It was a difficult inning for Pearce.

Machado failed to backhand Bogaerts' grounder behind the bag before Ortiz stepped to the plate. He committed a fielding error in the third and made a sensational diving stop and throw to rob Ramirez in the sixth.

The Orioles are 78-65 overall and 33-40 on the road.