Wrapping up an 8-0 loss

BOSTON - If the Orioles had any shot at stealing the second wild card spot in the American League, they had to sweep the Red Sox before returning home for the final seven games versus the Blue Jays and Yankees. Winning a series wouldn't suffice. They needed to run the table.

They've run into a buzzsaw.

The Red Sox have posted back-to-back shutouts, including today's 8-0 win that included three Orioles errors leading to six unearned runs. The bullpen failed, the defense failed and the bats remained in a deep freeze at the worst possible time.

The Orioles dropped two games below .500 again and 4 1/2 behind the Astros for the second wild card with eight remaining.

"I think the thing I point out is we haven't scored a run in 18 innings," said manager Buck Showalter. "The story for me kind of starts and stops there."

The Red Sox used seven pitchers and the Orioles were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since July 2-3.

"It's September baseball, when you can pitch that many pitchers," Showalter said. "It doesn't happen in August or whatever. It's a whole different thing. You've got to be ready for all the things, whether it's the guy last night or the five, six, seven guys they used today out of the bullpen. That's where you are in September. We just didn't score. We haven't scored the last two days, so it kind of starts and ends there for me.

"We swung it better in Washington, but we just went through a two-game period here where we haven't done much offensively. I'll be the first to tip my hat to the other team, but we're capable of better."

Adam Jones hasn't played in the first two games, but it's no excuse, considering that the Orioles swept the Nationals while he remained on the bench with back spasms.

"We did some good things in Washington without him," Showalter said. "We did some things pitching-wise without Zach (Britton). The good news is Darren (O'Day) was not available again today, but Zach was. Hopefully, we'll get that back on it's feet, but if we don't score any runs there won't be any need for him."

Wei-Yin Chen took a shutout into the fifth inning and had his pitch count at 60. He retired 12 in a row before walking Brock Holt with one out in the fifth, and the Red Sox scored on Josh Rutledge's RBI double.

Chen was up to 92 pitches heading into the sixth and he was done with two outs after a Rusney Castillo double and Holt RBI single.

"He was good," Showalter said. "I'd like to see him be a little more economical with his pitches, but that's as sharp as he's been in a while. The secondary pitches were real good. Surprising his pitch count got up so high, but that's a tribute to them. too. But we didn't pitch well out of the bullpen after he came out of the game and it was a struggle to get an out."

A big struggle. Oliver Drake was tagged with two unearned runs and Jorge Rondon four. Manny Machado was charged with two fielding errors, raising his total to 19.

"He spoils us at a very high level of play," Showalter said. "People expect him to catch everything and he just about does."

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

Chen (through interpreter) on how he threw:
"Overall, I feel good, but in the fifth and sixth innings I kind of lost my command out there and couldn't get back in time. That's the thing I'm not happy about today."

Chen on difference between first four innings and last two:
"In the fifth and sixth innings, they were starting to foul my pitches off and also there were a couple of pitches where I would like to get the call, but I didn't. I kind of lost my command out there and unfortunately I didn't get it back in time."

Chen on disappointment in following sweep in D.C. with two shutouts:
"I think everyone on the team is trying to do our job well, trying to do everything good to try and win all the games."

Chen on his season:
"For me, it's a good season overall. We're still in the season. I've got one start, two starts left. We're still in the season and so I just want to focus on my next start and trying to do well in every game."

Matt Wieters on Chen:
"I still thought he threw the ball well. He made some good pitches to keep them to only one run when the bases were loaded. This team does a good job of fouling off pitches and making his pitch count get up. I thought he was in a good spot, throwing the ball well, and I really think he battled through that fifth and sixth inning. It's just a matter of you have to get credit to some of their hitters for fouling off pitches and laying off some close pitches."

Wieters on bullpen:
"They threw the ball OK. It was a game where it seems like every ball they didn't hit quite good fell into the outfield, and we had some plays that we normally make that we didn't make, and it's just one of those games. You can't tell why it went bad. It didn't feel from behind the plate that we gave up eight runs, but when you look at the scoreboard you know we did."

Wieters on offense:
"We're going to have to score to win. We'll just have to forget about these two games and come out tomorrow. There's no time at this point in the year for worrying or feeling sorry about yourself. It's about getting out here tomorrow and putting some runs on the board."

Wieters on challenge of hitting in a bullpen game:
"It's tough, but at the same time you still have to just find a good pitch to hit and we didn't get many to hit today. You've got to give their pitchers credit on top of that and like I said, we just couldn't seem to get many pitches to hit and barrel them up."

Wieters on defense:
"Yeah, you hate to say that it happens, but it's going to happen. We just have to be ready to go tomorrow. We know we're a good defensive team, so we'll put it behind us and keep moving forward."