Orioles complete sweep and lower magic number to eight

BOSTON - The Orioles currently lead the American League East by 10 1/2 games over the Blue Jays and 11 1/2 over the Yankees, who play later tonight. They've moved 27 games above .500. They're making a mockery of the pennant race. The Orioles' magic number is down to eight following today's 10-6 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Andy Etchebarren or Cal Ripken Jr. Take your pick. The Orioles have won the last three season series from the Red Sox for the first time since taking four in a row from 1964-67. They're 21-9 at Fenway Park since Sept. 20, 2011. The Red Sox were outscored 18-7 in this series, and they needed five runs in the bottom of the ninth today to make the margin more respectable. The Orioles came within an inning of being the first team to hold the Red Sox to one run or fewer in three straight games at Fenway Park since the Yankees on Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, 2001. The Orioles never did it. Joe Saunders, in mop-up duty, surrendered five runs in the ninth, the last three on Carlos Rivero's first major league homer. Tommy Hunter recorded the second out, but he also put two runners on base. Darren O'Day retired Xander Bogaerts, who also led off the inning, for his third save of the season. And the Orioles completed the sweep while winning for the 13th time in 17 games since being swept at Wrigley Field. The Orioles are 43-31 on the road, 21-27 during the day and 37-22 against the AL East. They're 73-30 when they homer, though Caleb Joseph's shot today seemed like icing on the cake until the Red Sox ramped up the tension. Kelly Johnson and Ryan Flaherty had RBI doubles in the ninth to complete the Orioles' scoring. Flaherty enjoyed the first four-hit game of his career. Ten different Orioles scored the 10 runs today. Is that weird? Wei-Yin Chen allowed one run and three hits over seven innings, with no walks, four strikeouts and a home run. He threw 93 pitches, 62 for strikes, before Ryan Webb replaced him. Chen retired the first 16 batters before Dan Butler doubled for his first major league hit. Webb doubled again off Webb in the eighth. Chen gave up a leadoff home run to Bogaerts in the seventh inning, but he struck out the last two batters. In his last two starts, Chen has allowed one run and seven hits over 13 innings. He's now a 15-game winner, having gone 12-2 in his last 21 starts since May 9. His ERA is down to 3.59. As for the rotation, it's allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of the last nine games. The only way to cool it off is to interrupt the schedule, which happens with Thursday's off-day. Webb tossed a scoreless eighth inning before Saunders entered, his first appearance since manager Buck Showalter brought him into a game at Tropicana Field to issue an intentional walk. The Orioles are burying the competition. That part also is intentional.