masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgBOSTON – It doesn’t seem that long ago when playing at Fenway Park was excruciating for the Orioles. A cup-splitting kick that doubled them over for days.
Not anymore.
The Orioles are 19-9 in Boston since Sept. 20, 2011. Overall, they’re 32-19 against the Red Sox since 2012.
The Orioles have won 11 of their last 15 games since being swept at Wrigley Field. They’re 66-14 this season when scoring at least four runs in a game, including 26-1 beginning on July 19.
Miguel Gonzalez is pitching…

BOSTON – It doesn’t seem that long ago when playing at Fenway Park was excruciating for the Orioles. A cup-splitting kick that doubled them over for days.

Not anymore.

The Orioles are 19-9 in Boston since Sept. 20, 2011. Overall, they’re 32-19 against the Red Sox since 2012.

The Orioles have won 11 of their last 15 games since being swept at Wrigley Field. They’re 66-14 this season when scoring at least four runs in a game, including 26-1 beginning on July 19.

Miguel Gonzalez is pitching like an ace. There’s no denying it. He’s 6-2 with a 1.82 ERA since the beginning of July.

Gonzalez has clearly made a case for his inclusion in the postseason rotation.

“I think every start has been doing really good,” he said. “I’ve got to keep doing what I’ve been doing and stay focused. And we’re in a good spot right now. Pretty happy about it. We’re doing good.”

Try to get Gonzalez to talk about himself and he inevitable brings in the entire team. What’s not to like about this guy?

“He’s strung it together,” said reliever Tommy Hunter. “When you feel hot, you want the ball. He’s kept his roller coaster on the uphill climb. Hopefully, it keeps going.

“We’ve all got his back. Hopefully, he just goes out and keeps throwing the way he’s been for the last three months, 3 1/2 months, whatever it’s been. It’s been incredible. It’s fun to watch.”

tommy-hunter-staring-off-gray-sidebar.jpgLet’s not overlook Hunter’s contribution to last night’s win. He inherits a bases-loaded mess in the seventh inning and strikes out Will Middlebrooks and David Ross.

Middlebrooks got ahead 3-0 in the count, but he went down swinging.

“You’ve got to try to get out of it,” Hunter said. “I fell behind 3-0. That’s never the intention there. Miggy threw a hell of a game today. Just tried to come in and do a job and try to get him the win.”

Red Sox manager John Farrell didn’t seem to have any issues with Steve Pearce’s aggressive slide into second base that forced shortstop Xander Bogaerts into a costly throwing error.

“It’s a hard slide,” Farrell said. “He didn’t go away from the base. He still was able to make contact. He did put his arms up.”

Pearce is a beast on the basepaths. Remember his slide into former Yankees third baseman Kelly Johnson at Yankee Stadium that caused manager Joe Girardi to blow a gasket?

Now Pearce and Johnson are teammates. If you can’t beat ’em …

Pearce was asked last night whether he knew that the Orioles’ lead in the division had grown to 10 games.

“Just whatever the scoreboard says,” he replied. “I really don’t know about the magic number. I don’t. We look at the scoreboard. We like to see where we stand. We pay attention to that stuff, but we don’t let it affect our game.”

Nelson Cruz has four multi-hit games in his last seven games, going 12-for-27 (.444).

Cruz has got to be Most Valuable Oriole this season. We can debate later whether Zach Britton rates ahead of Adam Jones, or whether Darren O’Day belongs in the top three.

Chris Davis is 9-for-32 (.281) with a .410 OBP in his last nine games beginning Aug. 31 after going 4-for-32 (.125) with a .237 OBP in his previous 10 games.

Alejandro De Aza has hit safely in all four games played since the Orioles traded for him, going 5-for-16 (.313).

Chris Tillman is making his 31st start tonight, which leaves him one behind the Angels’ Jered Weaver for the major league lead. He’s 7-0 with a 4.34 ERA in 14 starts on the road this season.

Tillman is 5-3 with a 2.76 ERA in 14 career starts against the Red Sox, and 2-1 with a 2.80 ERA in six outings at Fenway Park.

Tillman has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 17 consecutive starts since June 10, the fifth-longest streak in club history.

Daniel Nava is 5-for-26 (.192) with three doubles against Tillman. David Ortiz is 2-for-21 (.095), Middlebrooks is 0-for-16 and Bogaerts is 0-for-9.

Anthony Ranaudo is making his fifth major league start tonight and his first against the Orioles.

Last week, I asked catcher Steve Clevenger for his opinion on first baseman Christian Walker and right-hander Tyler Wilson, named the organization’s minor league Pitcher and Player of the Year, respectively. Clevenger was a teammate at Triple-A Norfolk.

“Christian had a good year in Double-A, came to Triple-A and had some success at the beginning and then kind of struggled, which is known for guys first coming to Triple-A. Then he started to come around again toward the end,” Clevenger said.

“To me, he’s a good, patient hitter. He knows the strike zone very well. He has power to all sides of the field and just a good, pure hitter. Good defender. He’s just a good all-around player. He works hard, he hustles, he does the right things that he’s supposed to be doing and he’s on the right track right now.”

Clevenger caught Wilson, so I was especially interested in his scouting report on the University of Virginia product.

“Good competitive pitcher,” Clevenger said. “He’s real aggressive on the mound. Good fastball, good slider. His changeup needs to come around a little bit, but other than that, he’s a good all-around pitcher. He’s going to give you everything he’s got every time out on the mound. He’s going to be good here in the future. He throws strikes and he works hard. Same kind of guy as Walker is. They both work hard and they’re going to be in this organization for a while, I think.”

Clevenger said Wilson’s fastball “probably sits 90-92 (mph), but he’ll pop a 93-94 (mph).”

“He works the ball in and out, sinkers and four-seamers,” Clevenger added. “He’s going to be good for years to come.”

Walker and Wilson, who are both on the taxi squad in Sarasota, should begin the 2015 season at Norfolk.