O's game blog: O's have lost five in a row against Boston

The Orioles and Red Sox conclude a brief two-game series tonight at Fenway Park. The Orioles lost 8-1 last night and have now lost five games in a row to Boston.

They have been outscored 28-9 during those five games, which started with Boston's four-game sweep at Camden Yards last September. The Orioles have scored two or fewer runs in four of the five games.

But overall since the 2012 season, the Orioles are 54-41 (.568) against Boston. At Fenway Park, the Orioles won all three series last year and went 6-3. The Orioles have a winning record in four of the last five seasons in Boston, going 29-19 (.604) at Fenway Park since 2012.

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones went 1-for-4 with a double on Tuesday and that was the 250th double of his career. He has hit safely in all six games to begin the season batting .261 (6-for-23). Jones has 164 career hits against the Red Sox to tie with Evan Longoria for the fourth-most against the Red Sox among active players. He also played in his 1,327th game as an Oriole and is now tied with Brian Roberts for the 11th most in Orioles history.

Jones' next homer will be his 224th as an Oriole and will break his fifth-place tie on the club's all-time homers list with Rafael Palmeiro. Jones needs 14 more hits to reach 1,500 for his career.

On the mound tonight, O's right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez (0-0, 10.38 ERA) pitches against knuckleballer Steven Wright (0-0, 5.40 ERA).

Jiménez's season debut Friday was not good against the Yankees. The Orioles rallied from 5-1 down for a 6-5 win. But Jiménez lasted just 4 1/3 innings allowing seven hits and five runs. He gave up two-run homers to Matt Holliday and Gary Sánchez.

Jiménez is 2-6 with a 6.82 ERA and two quality starts in 14 career starts versus Boston. He's lost three straight decisions against Boston. His last start against the Red Sox came on Sept. 21, 2016 at home, when he worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs (none earned) on four hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. In seven career starts at Fenway, Jiménez is 1-3, 6.09 ERA.

Wright went 13-6 with a 3.33 ERA last season. In two starts in 2016 against Baltimore, he went 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA. In four career games (two starts) against the Orioles, he is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA. In 22 innings, he has walked nine and fanned 19 Orioles and they have hit just .182 off him.

Most American League wins since 2012:
448 - Orioles
438 - Yankees
436 - Rangers and Tigers

On the farm this afternoon: Double-A Bowie won 8-6 at Erie to improve to 4-3. Cedric Mullins had just one hit, going 1-for-5, but is still batting .516. DJ Stewart is batting only .125 to start the year, but hit a three-run homer today - his second in the Eastern League. Starter Brandon Barker gave up three runs over four innings. Right-hander Ryan Meisinger got the win in relief with 2 2/3 scoreless innings and four strikeouts.

Potomac won 5-3 at Single-A Frederick as the Keys fall to 2-4. Left-hander Keegan Akin had a shutout until allowing a three-run home run in the fifth. Over five innings, he gave up 10 hits and three runs with 10 strikeouts. Alex Murphy, out of Calvert Hall in Baltimore, hit a two-run homer. Jomar Reyes had two hits and is batting .520. Steve Wilkerson had two hits and is batting .429. Outfielder Austin Hays is batting .357 and his his first homer in the Carolina League. The Keys went 1-for-13 today with runners in scoring position. Right-hander Cody Sedlock (1-0, 0.00 ERA) starts Thursday night for the Keys.

Single-A Delmarva won 8-2 at Greensboro to improve to 2-5. Lefty Zach Muckenhirn had a strong start. Over six innings, he gave up four hits and one run with eight strikeouts and his ERA is 0.75 with 14 strikeouts in 10 2/3 through two starts. He is the highest-drafted player ever from the University of North Dakota, taken in round 11 last June. Preston Palmeiro (Raffy's son) hit a grand slam in the first inning. It was his first professional homer. Cole Billingsley went 2-for-5 and drove in three runs.

O's mash five homers in Fenway: Trey Mancini became the first Orioles player to hit five homers in his first 10 games in the majors tonight, according to Elias Sports. Mancini hit a three-run homer in the first inning and a solo shot in the third as the Orioles blasted Boston 12-5.

The Orioles remain in first place at 5-2 as they split a two-game series. They had scored nine total runs during a five-game losing streak to Boston and exceeded that tonight.

The Orioles had hit five homers all season - none over the previous three games - and they hit five tonight. All five came in the first three innings. Jonathan Schoop, Adam Jones and Chris Davis also connected as the Orioles produced season highs with 12 runs and 17 hits.

Now they move onto Toronto to start a four-game series on Thursday night at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman (0-0, 5.40 ERA) faces Francisco Liriano (0-0, 135.00 ERA). Liriano allowed five runs over on-third of an inning in his season debut versus the Rays.