Red Sox  3    Orioles  1

Boston Red Sox (86-59) at Baltimore Orioles (60-86), 7:05 p.m.

Sports Network | September 18, 2009

(Sports Network) - The Boston Red Sox have been awfully tough to beat whenever Clay Buchholz has taken the mound in recent weeks. Then again, it usually hasn't mattered who's pitching whenever the team has faced the Baltimore Orioles.

Buchholz will shoot for a fifth consecutive winning decision, while the Red Sox take aim at a sixth straight victory over the Orioles, when the two American League East clubs start up a three-game series tonight at Camden Yards.

Boston has fared quite well against Baltimore over the past few years, but has been especially dominant in this year's season series. The Red Sox are 13-2 against the Orioles thus far in 2009 and have claimed five of the six matchups held in Camden Yards.

Over the last 26 meetings between the divisional foes, Boston has won 22 times.

Buchholz has certainly played a part in that success. The young right-hander yielded only three hits over seven shutout innings to beat the Orioles in Boston earlier this month, and fired a no-hitter against Baltimore at Fenway Park in his second-ever major-league start, back on September 1, 2007.

The 25-year-old was tagged for seven runs and nine hits -- including a pair of homers -- in just four innings by the Orioles in a start at Camden Yards on August 2, however. In six career outings (5 starts) versus Baltimore, Buchholz is 3-2 with a 4.75 earned run average.

Boston has won each of Buchholz's last six starts, with the native Texan having posted a 4-0 record and a 3.00 ERA over that stretch. Buchholz pitched well enough to earn another victory this past Sunday, when he limited Tampa Bay to one run and five hits through seven frames but left with the score tied at 1-1.

The Red Sox enter this series holding a six-game advantage over Texas for the lead in the AL Wild Card race and had ripped off seven straight wins before being edged by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last night. Howie Kendrick came through with a tie-breaking RBI single in the top of the ninth inning to lift the AL West leaders to a 4-3 triumph over the Red Sox in Thursday's finale of a three-game set.

Jason Bay had a two-run homer and Jacoby Ellsbury added a solo shot for Boston, while Josh Beckett delivered eight strong innings despite not getting a decision. The Red Sox ace allowed three runs and struck out seven without issuing a walk.

"I thought (Beckett) was really good," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "No walks, seven strikeouts and real good movement."

Billy Wagner received the loss after giving up Kendrick's game-winning hit in the ninth.

The Orioles will attempt to rebound from a shutout loss at home to Tampa Bay on Thursday, with the Rays' Wade Davis scattering just four hits and striking out 10 in a complete-game effort to lead his club to a 3-0 win.

Mark Hendrickson, making his first start since May 12, surrendered two runs and five hits over the first 3 1/3 innings to take the loss for Baltimore. Michael Aubrey had two of the Orioles' four hits on the night.

Jeremy Guthrie gets the call for Baltimore in tonight's opener and hopes to bounce back from a rough outing at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. The durable right-hander was reached for five runs and 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings against New York to suffer his 14th loss of the season.

Prior to that start, Guthrie had thrown seven shutout innings to down Texas in a September 6 appearance at Camden Yards. He had gone 3-1 with an excellent 1.33 over a span of four starts heading into Sunday's setback.

Like his team, Guthrie hasn't experienced much success when facing the Red Sox, however. The former first-round pick is 1-4 with a 4.74 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) against Boston, including an 0-2 mark with an ugly 8.00 ERA over three starts that took place this year.