O's carry some hot bats into Game 2 of Boston series

Tonight, the Orioles are trying to get back to 12 games over .500 with a win over the Red Sox. Even with last night's loss, the Orioles have won seven of their last nine and eight of their past 11 games against Boston. But the Red Sox have now won nine of their last 11 games overall, outscoring their opponents, 64-31 with a team ERA of 2.69 in that stretch. Some O's hot hitters heading into tonight's game: * Adam Jones is batting .345 (19-for-55) during a 13-game hitting streak that ties his career best. He has hit six homers with 12 RBIs during the steak. Jones has now hit four homers in his last seven games, six in the last 13 and eight over his past 17 games. * Chris Davis is 9-for-20 with a homer during the last five games, raising his average from .274 to .299. * Nick Markakis is batting .333 during a six-game hitting streak with two homers and six RBIs. Over his past 14 games, Markakis is batting .316 (18-for-57) with five homers and 13 RBIs. * J.J. Hardy is batting .297 with nine RBIs over his last eight and, over his past 16 games, Hardy is batting .347 (25-for-72) with 12 extra-base hits including six doubles, a triple, five homers and 13 RBIs. * Xavier Avery has hit safely in six of his nine major league games and is 5-for-15 with two doubles and four runs scored over his last four games. The O's took a 2-0 lead tonight into the third inning on a Steve Tolleson two-run homer off Felix Doubront in the last of the second. It was his first O's homer and the second of his major league career. He hit one for Oakland on September 26, 2010. Tolleson's homer was just the O's second extra-base hit over their last 23 innings.