Wrapping up a 2-1 win and a sweep

BOSTON - For the Orioles to get out of Boston with a sweep today, they'd have to win despite not scoring after the first inning. They'd have to use five pitchers, none of them their designated closer. Brad Brach would need a five-out save. The Red Sox would need to strand 13 runners.

Whatever it takes to get back to .500 and push more teams out of their path for the second wild card.

The Orioles earned their first road sweep with a 2-1 victory at Fenway Park. They outscored the Red Sox, who hadn't been swept in a three-game series, 25-4 and returned home winners of four straight and five of their last six.

Zach Britton never warmed up or pitched, creating speculation that his left knee might be bothering him again. Alec Asher was scratched from his start with Triple-A Norfolk, but only to keep him available to the Orioles if needed.

Manager Buck Showalter wanted to give Britton one more day of rest after this morning's bullpen session. Britton is fine and ready to pitch whenever the phone rings.

"We think Zach will be a pitcher for us tomorrow," Showalter said.

Britton hasn't worked since Wednesday afternoon, when his streak of converted save chances ended at 60.

"Yesterday, didn't like the way he felt at the end. Today, he felt good," Showalter said.

"It's a long story with a brace and stuff that he normally wears. We felt like if we could get one more day that he'd be a pitcher for us tomorrow. But we'll see what it brings. We've got a long recovery period from today to tomorrow.

"He started a dose packet and it usually doesn't take hold until sometime later today or early tomorrow, so we're trying to let all those factors play into it."

The brace is the same one that Britton has worn since 2014. An MRI on Thursday didn't reveal any structural damage in the knee.

Brach notched his 17th save by retiring all five batters he faced. He was the fourth reliever used after Mychal Givens, Richard Bleier and Miguel Castro.

"Brad's closed one-run games for us before and we were lucky that he had three days off and so had Mychal," Showalter said. "It's disappointing Mike took 27 pitches to get two outs. But it always goes back to the starting pitcher with Wade (Miley). Castro played a big part in it, too."

Brach inherited a runner in the eighth and stranded him on two fly balls to Craig Gentry, the first bringing him to his knees as he raced back and had to slam on the brakes.

"You had two key plays in right field and I wish everyone could go to right field and play in the sun here in a day game, especially in those situations where those balls are hit," Showalter said. "There's no margin for error."

It also applied to Brach, who retired the side in order in the ninth.

"Friday, Buck poked his head in and said, 'Zach's probably not going to be available, so kind of be heads-up,' " Brach said. "He never says exactly what is going to be the plan, but you kind of just have an idea that's somebody's going to slide back there. I just had the feeling once I went out there (today) it was probably going to be me for the last five outs there."

The Red Sox lead the American League with 40 home wins and they were swept by a team that began the weekend with a 24-39 record on the road. Don't try to figure it out.

"I think that's just baseball at its finest right there," Brach said. "Anybody can win on any given night and I think it has a lot to do with us.

"I always feel comfortable when we come here. I know, me personally, I know a lot of the guys do. We come here so often it almost feels like a home away from home. It's Fenway. You always get a little bit of extra up for these games. It's always a packed house and the fans are always into it, so it's definitely not surprising to us and I think most people would say it wouldn't be that surprising. But to get three of three was a big deal."

Especially for a team that seemed to be treading water.

"Over the last month, we win one, lose one, win one, lose two," said Adam Jones, who had an RBI double in the first inning and scored on Trey Mancini's double. "There was never a 10 out of 11 or eight out of 10 streak. We can start that right now.

"Let's just put our heads down and get after it, because whatever we've done before means nothing. Everything now is on our plate. We've just got to pay attention to tomorrow, which is the Mariners."

A Boston writer asked Jones whether it was too late for the Orioles. Jones kept making him repeat it, tossing the words back as if they made no sense.

"For what? Is it? No," he said.

"Are we like 25 out or something like that? As long as you're not mathematically eliminated, you've got a shot."

The Mariners are one of the teams ahead of the Orioles in the wild card race and they come to Baltimore for a three-game series that begins Monday night.

"That's huge. That's what you play for," Jones said. "You want to play teams that are just as hungry as you, that are fighting for something like you. The Mariners, Angels, Rays, Toronto, there's about six or seven of us right now that are just fighting for our lives trying to get into that wild card game.

"At the end of the day, I'm an optimist and always look for the division, because you get a couple days off to relax and get a guaranteed series. Any way we get in, it doesn't really matter. We've just got to get in. We're a month away from deciding it."

The chances of winning improve if the Orioles keep taking early leads, as they did again today.

"It's always good to give the starting pitcher a little breathing room," Jones said. "Today, Miley, Givens, Bleier, Castro and Brach, all those guys came in and did a hell of a job, and to turn a double play on Rajai Davis in the (seventh) inning. We had guys on base and our pitching staff got the ground ball. We made the right pitches and struck some guys out. I tip my caps to our pitching staff today. They're the ones that got this victory.

"Four runs in a three-game series, that's hard. That's doing a hell of a job. I've seen four runs many innings here. But starting pitching and defense takes you as far as you're going to go. That's not just our team, that's every other team. When your starting pitching is good and your defense is good, hopefully you get good timely hitting.

"The guys holding the ball on the bump right now have been throwing the ball exceptional, especially in this series. Hopefully, we just maintain it and hit our stride, hit the gas pedal and reel off some wins and put ourselves in a good position."

Here's more from outside the tiny visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park:

Showalter on whether it felt like pennant race game: "It felt like a game we were going to try to ... We had first and third and nobody out in the fourth and didn't push a run across, and that usually bites you here. We walked eight of their guys. That usually bites you. We were lucky to catch them with some of their key people hurt. Sometimes, you catch a break there. But our guys did what it took. As far as the atmosphere, they've done great things this year and we're fortunate today. You usually don't win those types of games."

Showalter on rotation pulling its weight: "If I state it, it's Captain Obvious. They know. They're grinding every day, and I think with a little extra rest our starters are able to get, you can tell they're a lot crisper for a lot of guys this time of year.

"(Doug) Fister was impressive. He was coming off a good start and I knew he was going to be a challenge today. He's probably one of the best conditioned pitchers in baseball and in day games he really has an advantage."

Showalter on getting Rajai Davis to hit into a double play in the seventh: "We played a three-depth instead of a two-depth on that first-and-third situation because that's the only way you can double up Rajai Davis. Because of the foot speed at third base, we had a different play. The dynamics of baseball change from hitter to hitter and runner to runner. And our guys executed. There's a lot of good defensive plays."

Jones on atmosphere: "It's August. Late August. We're just trying to get ourselves to Sept. 1 in a solid position. We know what the atmosphere is like playing here. We just try to play our game and try to get to Sept. 1 with the position to make a move at somebody."

Miley on bullpen: "Oh, man, they did an outstanding job. From Givvy coming in there with no outs, it was one run given up, but he did a good job to get two outs and pass it along. Castro, outstanding job. He wasn't as sharp as he can be, but he still gutted it out and got some big outs. That big double play there, one out and the bases loaded. And then Brachy got the rest of it done. Outstanding."

Miley on starters: "That's what every team needs, you need your starting pitcher to set the tempo. It's funny. When we do that, we win, and when we don't, we lose. So we've just got to continue to make pitches, go out and not put pressure on ourselves and try to keep us in ballgames."

Brach on pennant race feel to game: "Yeah, definitely. I think for us, there's no time to waste. We've got to win. It doesn't matter who it's against. Any time we get to come up to Fenway and take three from them, it's a big deal. We've just got to win games right now, so it definitely had a late-season feel. Every game, you could feel a little bit of extra pressure right now, because we have to get back in the standings."