Orioles back to division play (O's lose 5-3)

The Red Sox took their turn at changing the lineup, removing third baseman Aaron Hill due to tightness in his right forearm and replacing him with Brock Holt.

Left-hander T.J. McFarland would like to scratch his start today at Single-A Frederick. He allowed three runs and four hits in one-third of an inning against Lynchburg, which homered twice off him.

The Orioles have 45 games left in the regular season, including tonight's series opener against the Red Sox. Thirty-one of those games will be played within the American League East.

Nine of those games will be played against the Red Sox and nine against the Yankees. Six will be played against the Blue Jays, who are one percentage point behind the Orioles in the chase for first place.

Don't sleep on the Yankees, sellers at the non-waiver trade deadline who trail the Orioles by only 5 1/2 games.

Manager Buck Showalter said he's glad that the Yankees are "engaged," which creates a tougher road for the other teams vying for first.

Showalter isn't consumed with handicapping the race and making bold predictions. He typically stays focused on his own clubhouse.

"I don't spend any time looking at it," he said. "I'm kind of glad the Yankees are engaged. I think one thing you look for is as many teams as possible in your division, as much as we play each other, to still be involved in the competition because you don't want anybody ... well, nobody in our division rolls over anyway.

"I just look at us. I look at it as a given that the other teams are going to be there and that Tampa's going to relish their role. These are very competitive people at this level regardless of what the record may say, and they enjoy having someone feel their pain."

The Orioles may still feel the effects of the West Coast swing as they attempt to readjust their body clocks and shake off the jet lag.

"It's going to be hard, but anything worth attaining what we're trying to attain is going to come with some challenges," Showalter said. "It takes two or three days for teams to get acclimated coming off the West Coast, but Boston had to play a day game yesterday in Cleveland. Everybody's got a tale of woe. Nobody wants to hear it.

"Your momentum's usually dictated by your next day's pitcher, the one you're facing and the one who's pitching for you. That's usually how it goes."

In other words, enjoy Jonathan Schoop's dramatic three-run homer Sunday that produced an 8-7 victory in San Francisco, but don't expect it to carry over to tonight's game or the rest of the week.

"It was a tough trip and that last day would have been easy to pull the dirt around you, but our guys found a way," Showalter said. "A lot of good things happened there, but they've done it before. It's not some message. That's what they've been doing here for a long time, not just this year. I had a good seat and it was fun to watch.

"It was a challenging road trip. We left engaged in first place and we came back that way, so our guys have worked very hard, and the whole organization, to have a chance to roll the dice this last six weeks or so. So I want them to enjoy it. They've earned it. I want them to look forward to it.

"I don't spend a lot of time trying to prognosticate how it's going to play out. I just want us to be as good as we're capable of being and then we'll live with the end game.

"We talk a lot here about knowing who we are and who we're not and how we're going to try to do it and stay consistent in the message not only to our players, but to our fans. And it creates good morale and a good atmosphere, because the players are so good at this level, there's such a fine line that separates them."

Update: Mookie Betts lined a three-run homer into the left field seats with two outs in the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie.

Yovani Gallardo was hit on the right forearm by a Dustin Pedroia comebacker and stayed in the game. He walked Xander Bogaerts, struck out David Ortiz and gave up the home run.

The Orioles still don't have a hit off Eduardo Rodriguez.

Update II: The Orioles were being no-hit until Steve Pearce reached on an infield single with one out in the seventh, and they scored three runs to tie the game 3-3.

Mookie Betts hit his second home run of the night and his seventh this season in four games at Camden Yards, a two-run shot off Brad Brach in the top of the eighth inning to break a tie that didn't last long.

Eduardo Rodriguez left in the fifth with tightness in his left hamstring and Matt Barnes continued the no-hit bid.

Matt Wieters had a two-run single off Fernando Abad and Adam Jones walked with the bases loaded after Hyun Soo Kim's pinch-hit single.

Update III: The Orioles lost to the Red Sox 5-3, with Betts continuing to torture them.

Betts has seven home runs at Camden Yards, the most by any visiting player in a single season, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

The Orioles and Red Sox are tied in the AL East.