All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Sox win a season series: The Red Sox' struggles against teams from their own division have been an issue all season long. It took months for the Red Sox to win a series within their division. They've already lost season series with the Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays and have a 23-47 record against teams from the East, meaning they've lost more than two-thirds of their games within the division. But thanks to three straight wins this week at Fenway against Baltimore, the Red Sox finally managed to post a winning record against an AL East opponent, finishing 10-9 against the O's. The Sox closed out by going 6-4 vs. Baltimore at Fenway, and 4-5 at Camden Yards.
Eovaldi returns, but velo remains down: Making his first start in more than a month after a second IL stint, Nathan Eovaldi was impressive, allowing five hits and two runs -- just one of them earned -- over 4.2 innings. Twice in the first two innings, he pitched around a double and worked out of jams. One troubling thing: Eovaldi's fastball velocity remained down, as he averaged under 94 mph -- a dip of more than two mph over his average fastball velo for the season. Eovaldi has one more start remaining this season that will take place on the final homestand. It will be interesting to see what the numbers look like in that last outing. Still to be determined: what impact that might have on his free agency case. Will teams -- the Red Sox included -- be scared off of the downward trend they've seen in the second half of the season?
Bullpen auditions continue: Alex Cora was attempting to stay away from most of his more veteran relievers, so he turned to a number of options who are trying to make an impression for next year. Together, the trio of Eduard Bazardo, Zack Kelly and Kaleb Ort combined to toss 3.1 scoreless innings of relief. Bazardo bridged the gap between Eovaldi and the middle innings while Kelly took care of the eighth, earning his first big league win along the way, and Ort the ninth. Ort earned the first major league save with a scoreless final inning.
TURNING POINT
In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the game tied 3-3, J.D. Martinez turned on a hanging slider on the inner half and drove it over everything in left, scoring Alex Verdugo ahead of him and giving the Red Sox a 5-3 lead. Martinez hasn't pulled the ball with much power this year -- helping to explain his modest home run total (14) when compared to past seasons, but the eighth-inning at-bat proved he's still capable of driving the ball to left.
TWO UP
Alex Verdugo: It seems that Verdugo gets two hits a day now as a matter of routine. He had a single, and a double, leaving him one shy of becoming the third Red Sox player to reach 40 doubles this season.
Triston Casas: Casas, too, has become an on-base machine of late. In four plate appearances, he managed a single, a walk and a double -- the first of his career.
TWO DOWN
Rafael Devers: Devers had no impact at the plate, going 0-for-4 with one strikeout.
Matt Strahm: The lefty reliever yielded a solo homer to Kyle Stowers, the second hitter he faced pitching in the seventh inning.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"It means a lot to me to be able to come out here and pitch in front of our fans and be able to put on the Red Sox uniform and go out there and compete again.'' Nathan Eovaldi.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The Red Sox won their fifth straight season series against the Orioles.
* For the four-game series, the Red Sox banged out 42 hits and hit .311 for the series.
* Kiké Hernández drove in a run with a single in the fourth and is batting .309 with runners in scoring position.
* Alex Verdugo extended his hitting streak to nine straight games, during which he's hitting .351.
* Christian Arroyo (illness) made his first start since Sept. 18.
UP NEXT: The final road series of the season begins Friday night at Toronto at 7:07 p.m., with RHP Nick Pivetta (10-11, 4.48) vs. RHP Alek Manoah (15-7, 2.31).