BALTIMORE (AP) — Sonny Gray pitched seven three-hit innings for his majors-leading 17th victory to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-0 on Saturday night.
Gray (17-4) struck out seven and walked three while moving ahead of Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez for the wins lead.
He allowed baserunners in five innings, but only encountered real trouble in the third, escaping after Connor Wong tagged out Colton Cowser trying to score on Blaze Alexander’s fielder’s choice.
Eli White singled in two runs off Chris Bassitt (6-5), and Wong also singled to complete a three-run sixth inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a two-run double in the seventh as Boston shut out Baltimore in back-to-back games and took a 3-0 series lead.
The Orioles (69-74) went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position in their fifth straight loss after climbing back to .500 for the first time since April 30. They remain three games behind Cleveland for the final AL wild-card place, with Texas and Toronto between them.
The Red Sox (78-65) moved six games ahead of Cleveland and within three of New York while remaining in the second wild-card spot.
Red Sox reliever Greg Weissert struck out Pete Alonso with the bases loaded to escape the eighth.
Red Sox rookie left-hander Payton Tolle (8-6, 3.23 ERA) will try to extend his personal unbeaten run to 11 starts in Sunday's series finale. The Orioles counter with righty Kyle Bradish (7-12, 4.01), who hasn't earned a win in his last seven.
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