O's game blog: Ubaldo Jimenez on the mound in Boston series finale

The Orioles began this series at Boston with 11 wins in their last 15 games, a .500 record and momentum coming off a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals.

But today, they must win to avoid getting swept three straight at Fenway Park. They have fallen to a record of 76-78 with eight games left after losses of 7-0 and 8-0. Add to that their 10-1 loss to Boston on Sept. 16 and they've been outscored 25-1 in losing three in a row to the Red Sox.

With those three defeats, the Orioles are 11-7 in 2015 against Boston, winning the season series for the fourth consecutive season. That is the first time that has happened since 1964-67.

The Orioles are 7-2 at home and 4-5 on the road against Boston. They are 46-28 versus the Sox since 2012, including a mark of 23-14 at Fenway Park. Today is the Orioles' final road game of the 2015 season, and they have a road mark of 34-49. They went 46-35 away from Camden Yards last season.

New England-native Ryan Flaherty has a .409 average (9-for-22) at Fenway Park in 2015 after going 1-for-4 on Saturday. Over the course of his career, he has hit .380 (27-for-71) in Boston with seven doubles, a triple, a home run, and 11 RBIs in 21 games.

O's third baseman Manny Machado is the current active major league leader in consecutive games played at 154 games. According to STATS, Kole Calhoun of the Los Angeles Angels ranks second at 145 consecutive games.

On the mound today, right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (12-9, 4.16 ERA) pitches for the Orioles and makes his 30th start. Left-hander Henry Owens (3-3, 4.41 ERA) makes the start for Boston.

Jimenez went six innings, allowing just one unearned run Tuesday at Washington to record his 100th win. He became the 11th Dominican-born pitcher to win 100. Jimenez recently passed current Orioles pitching
instructor Ramon Martinez for sole possession of ninth place on the all-time strikeouts list by Dominican-born pitchers. Jimenez, with 1,443, trails Mario Soto by six strikeouts for eighth place on the list.

Jimenez is 1-0 with a 4.61 ERA this season in three starts against Boston. In his career, he is 2-3 with a 7.96 ERA in 10 starts. He has walked 32 in 46 1/3 innings.

Owens was ranked as baseball's No. 44 top prospect by Basebal America on its Top 100 list at the end of last season. He has allowed two runs or less in five of his nine big league starts. That includes his outing Sept. 16 in Baltimore, where he pitched 7 2/3 scoreless frames, allowing six hits on 113 pitches.

Boston is 74-80 overall, 42-38 at home and 31-40 versus American League East teams. The Red Sox are 30-22 since July 30. Boston starting pitchers have worked to an ERA of 2.85 over their past 21 games.

The Orioles need a 5-3 finish to end the year with a record of 81-81. They need to go 6-2 or better to record their fourth consecutive winning season.