G154: Red Sox 18, Orioles 9

Orioles   - 302 121 000 -  9 13  1
Red Sox   - 425 000 70x - 18 20  3

Jacoby Ellsbury began the seventh inning with an inside-the-park home run (NESN and WEEI calls) (he scored with ease, standing up (video)) and Conor Jackson ending the scoring in the frame with a grand slam over the Wall as the Red Sox offense exploded against eight Baltimore pitchers.

Boston's 18 runs tied a season-high (first done only six days ago, on September 13). The 20 hits also tied a season-high (May 25 and September 6). ... Runs scored in September's five wins: 12, 14, 18, 4, 18. ... And amid that firepower, there have been 14 losses. It's been a strange and annoying month.

After Lackey (the less said about him, the better; 4.1-11-8-2-3, 105) put the Sox in a 3-0 hole in the first inning, Boston responded with four runs against Matusz (1.2-6-6-2-0, 49), with Jed Lowrie capping the inning with a two-out, three-run bomb.

Both Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia reached base in all five of their plate appearances. ... Jackson, Lowrie, and Pedroia each had four RBI. ... Lowrie, Ellsbury, and Marco Scutaro each scored three runs.

The Red Sox are 5 GB in the East and 2 GA in the Wild Card. With eight games remaining, their WC magic number is eight.

Brian Matusz / John Lackey

Game 2 of today's day-night doubleheader:

Ellsbury, CF
Scutaro, SS
Gonzalez, 1B
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Lowrie, 3B
Jackson, LF
Varitek, C
McDonald, RF

Boston is now 4-14 in September and only 1.5 GA of the Rays for the wild card. Those 14 losses are more than the team had in any of the previous four months: May (10), June (9), July (6), or August (12). Boston lost 15 games in April. ... The Yankees beat the Twins 6-4, pushing the Red Sox 5.5 GB in the East.

Silver Lining Dept.: Matusz - 9.84 ERA and 2.023 WHIP in 10 starts (43 innings) - makes Lackey looks like Verlander.

Game thread.