BOSTON _ Led by left-hander Wade Miley, the Orioles held the Boston Red Sox to a single run despite allowing 16 base runners in a 2-1 victory Sunday at Fenway Park that clinched a series sweep and brought their record to .500 (66-66) for the first time since Aug. 7.
The Orioles didn't score after the first inning, when center fielder Adam Jones and left fielder Trey Mancini each had an RBI double.
Boston threatened constantly from that point on, but manager Buck Showalter cobbled together 12 outs of scoreless relief from Mychal Givens, Richard Bleier, Miguel Castro and Brad Brach to clinch the Orioles' first road sweep of the season.
Miley was back to his magic-man ways Sunday, wading through five plus-innings while allowing seven hits and walking three but seeing just one run come across on his account.
Nothing was easy for him, but he got out of trouble at every turn. Boston had runners on second and third with one out in the first inning, but left them both. Rookie third baseman Rafael Devers narrowly missed a home run and ended up with a double off the Green Monster in the second inning, but was left there. Same goes for the two men who reached in the third inning.
Miley faced the minimum three batters in the fourth, but a single and two walks in the fifth created a bases-loaded situation that he squirmed out of by getting designated hitter Chris Young to fly out to right field.
Miley ended the day with a 4.99 ERA. It hadn't been below 5.00 since he was shelled on July 3 in Milwaukee.
The middle innings were treacherous for the Orioles, who needed four pitchers in the sixth inning to stay in front.
After Miley allowed a leadoff double to shortstop Xander Bogaerts, Givens saw him score on a double by Devers in between two strikeouts. A walk by Givens and one by left-hander Bleier brought in right-hander Castro, who struck out right fielder Mookie Betts looking to end that threat.
Castro walked the first two batters of the seventh inning before a fielder's choice and a double play got him out of that cleanly as well. Brach got the final five outs, earning his 17th save of the year.
True to their recent form, the Orioles got on the board quickly Sunday. Leadoff man Tim Beckham singled, and after a groundout and a balk, was on third base to score on Jones' double down the left-field line. Jones scored when the next batter, Mancini, laced a double that one-hopped into the right-field seats.
That proved to be enough offense, who had only five men reach base the rest of the way.
Mancini had the only multihit day for the Orioles, adding singles in the fourth and ninth innings to raise his batting average to .293.
Each passing day shows Orioles, new shortstop Tim Beckham are rubbing off on each other
Welington Castillo's arm strength was never in question when the Orioles signed him in December to fill their catching void after Matt Wieters became a free agent, and he's shown his reputation to be accurate.
Castillo's caught stealing on an attempt in the fourth inning by center fielder Rajai Davis was his 22nd in 44 tries this season, giving him a league-best 50 percent steal rate.
