The Orioles came to Fenway Park on Tuesday with 99 homers, essentially telling Red Sox manager John Farrell everything he needed to know about them.
“They’ve always been built around the home run,’’ Farrell said before the series opener. “That’s clearly the case with this particular team. They’re a quick-strike offense.’’
He didn’t realize he was telling his team’s fortune.
Three batters into the night, the Orioles lived up to the scouting report.
With a runner on first, Manny Machado got a first-pitch fastball from Sox ace David Price and dinged it off the Pesky Pole, and the Orioles quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
It was Machado’s 17th homer of the season and it gave the Orioles a cool 100 homers for the season.
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop added No.?101 in the eighth when blasted a solo homer over everything in left.
The Orioles only mustered five hits in their 3-2 win, but their two homers decided things. Meanwhile, Orioles ace Chris Tillman was silencing the Red Sox. The combination gave them sole possession of first place in the AL East.
The efforts spoiled an otherwise sterling start by David Price, who locked in after Machado’s homer and sat down 19 straight batters.
He struck out the side in the third, fanning Ryan Flaherty with a 1-and-2 changeup, getting Adam Jones to chase a changeup down and in on a 2-and-2 count, and catching Joey Rickard staring at a belt-high fastball with the count full.
But his sharpest work of the night was easily the sixth inning when he got three outs with five pitches.
But after taking a tough-luck loss in San Francisco last week, pitching a complete game but coming up on the short end of a 2-1 decision, Price had to swallow another bitter pill.
He finished with 11 strikeouts in eight innings of work, the fourth time this season he’s rung up 10 or more batters and also the fourth time he’s gone eight innings. But Price was outdueled by Tillman (9-1), who went seven innings with seven strikeouts. Over Price’s first six starts, the Sox gave him an average of 5.8 runs worth of support, but in each of his past three outings, he’s had just one run to work with.
The only run Tillman allowed came when Jackie Bradley Jr. got hold of an 0-and-2 slider and shot it to straightaway center field for a solo homer in the seventh inning. It was Bradley’s 11th homer of the season.
“Every single pitch that I saw tonight besides the one that I actually made contact with were all right on the corner, dotted, best pitch he could possibly make,’’ Bradley said. “With a guy like that, you just kind of hope he misses and that you get a good swing on it.’’
The Orioles got the run back quickly, when Schoop shot a first-pitch cutter from Price over the Selfeo sign above the Green Monster for a homer that made it 3-1.
The Sox pushed across another run off Orioles reliever Zach Britton in the eighth on a single by Hanley Ramirez, but Britton sat down the side in order in the ninth inning for his AL-leading 20th save.
In handing the Sox their second straight loss, the Orioles snapped a three-game slide and took sole possession of first place in the AL East. The Orioles have taken five of eight games against the Sox this season.
While the Sox have bullied teams outside of the division, going 22-11, it’s been a battle within it. They dropped to 14-16 against AL East rivals. On the season, Price is 7-4 with a 4.52 ERA, but in eight starts against the division, he’s 2-3 with a 5.98 ERA.
“It’s definitely a tough division, for sure,’’ Price said. “The entire division is swinging the bats really well. I’ve been in this division for six years of my career now, and I think that’s made me better. You don’t have those off days where you’re not facing a lesser team every five days.
“It’s always a really good competition. That’s something that definitely was tough at first, but once I found out how to battle that every five days just facing teams in the AL East, that’s tough to do for sure. But I’m going to get through it and I’m going to get better.’’
The 6½ games that separate the first-place Orioles from the last-place Tampa Bay Rays is easily the slimmest margin of any division in baseball.
“Everybody’s pretty steady right now,’’ Bradley said. “Everybody’s winning and it’s going to be a tough race.’’
The cocktail of power and pitching is something that will define the division race, Farrell said.
“It will, in what’s shaping up to be a very offensive division,’’ Farrell said. “Particularly when you combine the ballparks. The ability to control the count, minimize multiple-run damage inside of an inning as just a general inning, that’s going to be key going forward.’’
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.
