Wrapping up a 9-7 win

BOSTON - The Orioles are 6-0 for the first time in club history, a milestone that doesn't seem to be a hot topic inside the clubhouse or the manager's office. No one is ordering a cake or thumbing through the display of Hallmark cards.

It's just six wins in six games.

"Our guys are very reality based, understand it doesn't mean much of anything," manager Buck Showalter said following a 9-7 win over the Red Sox. "It's just six games we don't have to win now. There's not much conversation about it at all unless you guys ask them and then they have to think up some answer. They're more interested in the end of the season.

"We've got, what, 156 more? So grab a seat."

The Orioles have been praised for manufacturing runs this season, but they bashed a pair of three-run homers today to provide leads.

"You've got to score runs in all different types of ways," Showalter said.

The Orioles chose muscle, with Mark Trumbo hitting a three-run homer off David Price in the third and Chris Davis launching a three-run shot off closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth.

"It's such a tough day to pitch for all the pitchers," Showalter said. "The wind's blowing, it's tough to keep your balance, the balls are slick, there's dirt kicking up in your face all the time. There's a lot of things going on today that won't happen during the season. We were fortunate. Price didn't make many mistakes, but they were on the ones he did and they grinded out some pitches.

"I thought one of the keys to the game was the game Chris Davis had at first base defensively. That's as good as you'll see a first baseman play nine innings. That was impressive to watch. And the outfield is so hard here as it is, and then you play these 2 o'clock games, the sun and the shadows and it's tough to see. We were fortunate enough to get to the point where Kimbrel didn't have the shadows. Just a lot of conditions today that you don't get in most places."

Davis also contributed a two-run single to offset his three strikeouts and made a few nice plays around the bag to save teammates from errors.

"He's had those games before," Showalter said. "Chris takes great pride in his defense. You can be as good as you can be, but if you don't have people who are receptive to playing an all-around game like our guys do, this makes coaching easy.

"Chris had the most engaged spring training I've ever seen. And not where it's over the top where he's trying to do too much and show he's worthy. He's been focused since the day he walked through the doors in Sarasota and he's getting a return for it. His defense was the difference in the game today."

The home run to deep center field off Kimbrel certainly made a difference, breaking a 6-6 tie before the Red Sox scored once off closer Zach Britton in the ninth.

Before today, Kimbrel hadn't served up a home run with more than one runner on base.

The postgame notes had Davis' ball traveling 433 feet. ESPN said 449 feet. He couldn't recall hitting another one that late and that far.

"Not in recent memory," he said. "I saw the ball well the first pitch. I think it helped that Manny (Machado) saw four pitches. It kind of gave me a little time to get a look at him on deck.

"Obviously, we haven't seen a lot of him, being in the National League. I think I faced him maybe once before that when he was with Atlanta, but that was a few years ago, so in that situation right there I'm just not trying to do too much. I'm trying to see the ball and put a good swing on it. I know we didn't necessarily need a three-run home run, but we'll take it.

"For the most part, one through nine has had good at-bats. Guys are going out there, not hacking, but seeing pitches and working counts, taking walks whenever they're giving it to us, passing the baton as Buck likes to say. I'm proud of the way the guys are playing it. Everybody knows when it heats up, the balls are going to start flying. Guys are going to start hitting the ball out of the ballpark, but it's good to see these quality at-bats early on."

The Orioles take this baton-passing mentality seriously.

"I think our lineup in general has really matured over the past couple of years and you're seeing that this year, not only during the season, but in spring training," Davis said. "Guys weren't going up there hacking, trying to get a base hit. They were actually working on something. That says something about Scott Coolbaugh, our hitting coach. He preached that early on and it's something the guys have bought into. It's been a positive for us."

Trumbo didn't have an extra-base hit or RBI before today, collecting nine singles in 19 at-bats.

"I knew one of them would go for extra bases, but it was fun to get the RBI, too," he said. "It was something I hadn't done yet, either. You know it's going to happen, you just don't know when. It was a great situation for it."

Trumbo is enjoying the club's hot start, no matter how many games and hurdles remain.

"It's great," he said. "You win, it's going to be a great clubhouse, great environment. But I think it's been established here. These guys are used to winning, coming back late in games and that's invaluable."

Trumbo was asked how the three-run shots resonate inside the dugout.

"I know Chris', watching it on deck, it's a huge blow," he said. "Tight ballgame, kind of back and forth, trading one run, tying it up and that's just kind of a gut punch. It definitely gave us a little bit of breathing room."

The bottom of the ninth was tension-filled, with Britton serving up a home run to Mookie Betts, giving up a single to Dustin Pedroia and walking Xander Boegarts before inducing a huge 4-6-3 double play from David Ortiz, playing on his final opening day at Fenway Park.

"It was in the back of my mind right there with Ortiz coming up, especially with the walk," Britton said. "After I threw the wild pitch and Pedroia went to second, with Bogaerts I was really trying to get him to swing at something out of the zone. He didn't and I walked him. It wasn't the worst thing. I don't want to put the winning run at the plate, but at the same time, that's kind of my game, getting the double play. So it was just trying to make pitches to slow the game down.

"I thought that was the biggest thing, the biggest adjustment I've been able to make over the years, slow the game down and be able to think it through a little bit more. It was good. Schoopy (Jonathan Schoop) made a great play, J.J. (Hardy) with that turn. But I knew if I could get some pitches to sink, that was the issue early on.

"First game on the road, all that stuff. I was a little amped up, but I just made some good pitches there at the end. Caleb (Joseph) gave me that assurance over there. He said, 'Hey, it's down, so keep doing what you're doing over there and eventually you're going to get what you want.'

"It just changes the whole momentum of the game, that double play, and that's why it's big. That's why if I can get that sinker going, it plays so big in the ninth."

Pitching coach Dave Wallace turned prophetic with his mound visit after the walk.

"He pretty much called exactly what was going to happen," Britton said. "He looked at me and told me, 'Hey, I like where you are right now.' Obviously, not with the baserunners, but where I was getting to with my delivery. He could see it. I was starting to slow down a little bit. He was like, 'Hey, a ground ball right here and a strikeout. Let's go. Let's get it.'"

And walk off the field with a 6-0 record.

"We're obviously happy about the start, but I think for the most part the mood's always pretty positive in the clubhouse," Davis said. "It's a long season. In this division, you're always going to have ups and downs. You've just got to kind of ride it out. I'm proud of the way the guys are playing. It's obviously good to get off to a good start."

The game ended with Adam Jones in center field, a defensive replacement with Joey Rickard moving to right field and Ryan Flaherty playing left. Jones had been idle since Wednesday.

Does this appearance indicate that Showalter is more confident about Jones avoiding the disabled list? Don't read too much into it.

"Not any more than I was," Showalter said. "I've been thinking about it last night and today that when he plays, if he has a problem with it, it's going to be a full 15 days, so I wasn't concerned about the backdate days.

"The more I thought about it, when he plays - maybe it's tomorrow, maybe it's the next day - if he has a big problem with it, it's not going to be five days, it's going to be 15. So I said, 'The heck with it. We're going to try to win a game here.' Obviously, the outfield was a challenge for everybody today."

Teammates were happy to see Jones patrolling center field again. They weren't overthinking it, just enjoying the moment.

"Jones is a guy who wants to be out there every day," Davis said. "He's not a guy that you have to say, 'Get out there.' He's a guy you kind of have to put the reins on and pull him back a little bit, so I know he's anxious to get back out there, but it's better to play it safe. I was glad to see him back out there."

Note: Brian Matusz, making the start today at Double-A Bowie, gave up six runs and seven hits in the first inning against Erie. He threw 30 pitches, 23 for strikes.

Austin Green hit a three-run homer off Matusz, who didn't return for the second inning.

The Orioles intended to activate Matusz from the disabled list Thursday in Texas. Showalter will be asked Tuesday whether the plan has changed after this outing.