Alex Cobb finished this season the way he started it _ by carving up the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
In between, he was finally what the Orioles signed him to be _ a reliable, veteran starting pitcher who gave them a chance to win.
Cobb's effort in the Orioles' 13-1 win over the Red Sox on Thursday night to avoid a series sweep was the seventh of his 10 starts in which he allowed two earned runs or fewer and ended a season devoid of injury for the first time in his three seasons with the Orioles.
Cobb was pitching with a lead for most of the game, as the Orioles (24-33) took a 3-0 advantage in the second inning and, uncharacteristically, built on it.
That allowed the veteran right-hander to use his fabled fastball-splitter combination to pitch seven innings of six-hit, one-run ball to end the season with a 4.30 ERA _ his best since signing as a free agent with the Orioles ahead of the 2018 season.
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An Orioles offense that had eight runs in its past five games broke out with a 13-run run, 18-hit barrage against starter Martin Perez and the Red Sox bullpen.
Rio Ruiz, who had three hits, had a run-scoring single in the second inning to open the Orioles' account before Cedric Mullins scored two with a double.
Ramon Urias, who has hit well since being recalled from the Bowie site earlier this week, had a ground-rule double in the third inning to drive in his first career run. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Hanser Alberto, and Jose Iglesias' second home run of the season made it 6-0.
Ruiz and Urias both drove in runs in the fifth inning, and Pat Valaika homered in the seventh.
Alberto was hit on the groin by a pitch, went to second on a walk, and scored on a single by Ryan Mountcastle in the eighth inning. With infielder Tzu-Wei Lin pitching in the ninth, Austin Hays homered for his third hit of the game, and Alberto had a two-run double.
Every Orioles starter had at least one hit, with Urias and Valaika also collecting three apiece.
