O's game blog: The road trip begins at Fenway Park

In their search for more runs, which they obviously hope lead to more wins, the Orioles are in Boston tonight. They play a three-game series at Fenway Park to begin their penultimate road trip of the season.

They play there remembering that they swept a series at Boston in mid-April, scoring 23 runs on 31 hits. In that set, they were 15-for-37 (.405) with runners in scoring position.

But over their past four games, the Orioles scored one, two, one and zero runs. They lost 2-0 to the Rays on Sunday to lose that series and suffer their sixth shutout. The Orioles have 22 hits in the past four games, batting .179 with a .502 OPS as they went 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

At 82-62 (.569), the Orioles have the second-best record in the American League and fifth-best in the majors. They begin play tonight a half-game out of first place in the AL East with 18 games remaining in the regular season.

The Orioles ended the year going 9-4 versus the Rays and the are 29-17 in division games.

The Orioles did not lose a series in their first eight within the division this year, going 6-0-2 in those series and 19-7 in those games. In the last six division series, they are 2-3-1 and 10-10 over 20 games.

They are 7-3 against Boston, sweeping a three-game series, going 2-1 in the next series and 2-2 in the most recent one. The Orioles have outscored Boston 64-42 in the season series, batting .267 with a .789 OPS. Their team ERA is 3.96, allowing a .242 batting average and .691 OPS to Boston hitters.

The Red Sox (72-71) still have faint playoff hopes. They are four games out of the third and final AL Wild Card spot, but they are behind both the Tigers and Mariners in that chase, with those clubs 3 1/2 games out.

The Red Sox lost Sunday to the White Sox, but took two of three from Chicago in the series. Overall though, they have lost six of eight and 11 of their past 16 games. The Sox are 11-19 since Aug. 6.

Boston is 33-39 at home and 9-13 at Fenway Park since the All-Star break. They are 18-28 since the break and 2-5 in September. Boston is 18-18 in AL East play.

Like the O’s, Boston batters have struggled recently. The Sox have scored just 20 runs their past eight games and 63 in the last 20, going 7-13. In those 20 games, they are batting .221 with a .648 team OPS.

O's lefty Cade Povich (2-7, 5.76 ERA) takes the mound for the Orioles. On Aug. 17, he allowed two runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings on 89 pitches versus Boston. In his last game on Tuesday, he pitched 7 1/3 scoreless with no walks and 10 strikeouts against the White Sox.

Povich has allowed five runs or more five times this year while giving up three runs or fewer seven times. 

With his big game versus the White Sox, the only other Orioles rookie in club history with 10 strikeouts, zero walks and zero runs allowed was Kyle Bradish on Sept. 22, 2022.

Povich also became the third rookie lefty in club history with a scoreless start that included 10 strikeouts. Steve Barber did that on July 28, 1960 versus the Kansas City Athletics, pitching a one-hit shutout. And Billy O'Dell did that on June 9, 1957 at the Chicago White Sox. 

Righty Brayan Bello (12-7, 4.75 ERA) will make his 27th start for Boston. For the year over 142 innings, he has a 1.380 WHIP, allowing 9.1 hits per nine with 3.4 walks and 8.6 strikeouts. Over his past three games, he has allowed five, zero and four runs.

In three starts this season against the Orioles, he is 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA and 1.102 WHIP. In five career starts, he is 3-2 with a 3.71 ERA and 1.200 WHIP.