O's game blog: Ubaldo Jimenez on the mound in Fenway series opener

As the Orioles arrive at Fenway Park and play at a stadium where they've had success the last few years, they will be greeted by a Red Sox team that has put up some big offense lately.

Boston may be in last place in the American League East at 31-40, but in winning four of six, the Red Sox have scored 40 runs. They have plated 66 runs the last 11 games. In Sunday's 13-2 win over Kansas City - Boston scored 24 runs in taking two of three in that series - the Red Sox had 13 extra-base hits.

Boston outfielder Mookie Betts is batting .556 (20-for-36) during a nine-game hitting streak, with four doubles, two triples, three homers and eight RBIs.

The Orioles are 7-3 against Boston this year. If they take just three of the remaining nine games this season, they will win a fourth-straight season series against the Red Sox. The last time the Orioles did that was 1964-67.

The Orioles have won five in a row this year against Boston, outscoring the Red Sox 35-18 during that winning streak.

Since 2012, the Orioles are 21-11 at Fenway Park. They have won seven of their last nine there, going 7-3 in 10 games at Boston in 2014 and 2-2 this season.

Since they were a season-high six games under .500 (23-29) on June 3, the Orioles have gone 13-4, moving from five games out to 2 1/2 games out of first place. Tonight they have a chance to go four games over the .500 mark for the first time in 2015.

Manny Machado has four straight multi-hit games, going 10-for-18. Over his past 15 games, he has 11 multi-hit games and is batting .452 with three doubles, six homers and 15 RBIs.

Orioles' pitching in Toronto:
* Starters pitched 7 2/3 innings with an ERA of 14.08.
* Bullpen pitched 18 1/3 innings with an ERA of 2.45.

Since April 29, the Orioles bullpen leads the majors with a 2.04 ERA. In that same time, Baltimore relievers have held opponents to a .215 batting average, third-best in the majors. Over the last 13 games, O's relievers have an ERA of 1.06.

On the mound tonight, Ubaldo Jimenez (5-3, 3.27 ERA) faces right-hander Joe Kelly (2-4, 5.32 ERA).

While Jimenez is 1-3 with an 8.42 ERA in eight career starts versus Boston, he pitched 3 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings against the Sox on April 17 at Fenway before he was ejected.

Kelly went 0-4 with a 6.53 ERA in May, but is 1-0 with a 3.71 ERA in three starts in June. He can give up some runs early in his starts, with an ERA of 6.23 in the first inning and 7.11 in the second.