O's game blog: O's look for series sweep at Fenway Park

After recording a season high in runs in Friday's 16-3 win and recording their eighth shutout of the year in Saturday's 7-0 victory, the Orioles have a chance to sweep the Boston Red Sox today at Fenway Park.

The Orioles (64-65) also have a chance to get back to the .500 for the first time since they were 56-56 on Aug. 7. Their last three-game sweep at Fenway Park came in September 2014.

The Orioles have outscored Boston 23-3 and outhit the Red Sox 30-10 over the weekend. O's starters have pitched to an ERA of 1.23 in the series with Boston at 7.15.

Right-hander Kevin Gausman threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings on four hits on Saturday. Of his 117 pitches, he threw 74 fastballs (averaging 95 mph), 28 split-finger fastballs and 15 sliders. Gausman improved to 10-9 with an ERA of 4.98 as his ERA dipped under the 5.00 mark for the first time since April 13. Over his last eight starts, Gausman is 5-2 with a 2.26 ERA.

The Orioles offense has scored 31 runs the last three games and 74 in the last 11. They lead the American League in runs scored since the All-Star break with 239 in 41 games for an average of 5.8 per game. The Orioles are now fourth in the AL in runs scored for the year, behind only Houston, New York and Texas.

Left-hander Wade Miley (7-10, 5.11 ERA) is set to make his 27th start this afternoon. He has given up two earned runs or less four times in his last five starts, going 3-1 with a 2.93 ERA in that span. The Orioles are 4-1 in those games.

Miley faced Boston one time this year and got the win June 1 at home. Over seven innings, he gave up five hits and one run on 109 pitches. Miley has recorded seven quality starts and the Orioles are 14-12 in his 26 games this season.

Right-hander Doug Fister (3-6, 4.78 ERA) will make his 12th appearance and ninth start for Boston. He was claimed on waivers by the Red Sox from the Angels on June 23.

On Tuesday, he pitched a one-hitter in a 9-1 win at Cleveland. He gave up a homer to Francisco Lindor on his third pitch of the game and then pitched the rest of the game without allowing another hit. It was his first career one-hitter and Cleveland went 0-for-25 against him after Lindor's homer.

Fister has allowed a batting average of .311 and OPS against of .887 when facing lefty batters. Those numbers are much better at .196/.591 versus right-handed batters. He has allowed an average of .436 when pitching with runners in scoring position.

In nine career games (eight starts) versus Baltimore, Fister is 4-2 with a 4.47 ERA and 1.272 WHIP. Over 50 1/3 innings, he has walked 11 and fanned 45.

Over 24 games in August, the Orioles lead the majors with a .299 batting average, a .527 slugging percentage and 46 home runs. Tim Beckham ranks first in the AL with a .396 average and Manny Machado ranks eighth at .340. Machado leads AL hitters with 32 RBIs and ranks tied for fourth with 10 home runs.