G55: Orioles 8, Red Sox 6 (10)

Orioles - 002 001 300 2 - 8 15  1
Red Sox - 000 022 002 0 - 6 11  1

Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit an opposite field, game-tying home run over the Wall with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Alfredo Aceves, working in his second inning, walked the leadoff man in the tenth and allowed three consecutive singles, as the Orioles scored twice and won the first game of a three-game series.

Boston trailed and rallied to tie the game or take the lead a total of three times, but they could not muster a fourth, going down in order in the bottom of the tenth.

Both Salty and Mike Aviles had three hits; Daniel Nava scored two runs. Scott Podsednik was on base four times, with two singles, a walk and a ROE. ... The bigger bats in the lineup - Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis - went 1-for-17.

Lester (6-8-4-1-5, 99) had a forgettable outing; two of the four runs he allowed were unearned. The trio of Scott Atchison, Matt Albers, and Aceves allowed seven hits and four runs in four innings.

The Red Sox (28-27) are back in fifth place in the AL East.

Jason Hammel / Jon Lester

Podsednik, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Youkilis, 3B
Saltalamacchia, C
Sweeney, RF
Nava, LF
Aviles, SS

Based on each team's runs scored and runs allowed, here is what you would expect the AL East standings to look like today:

            W   L   GB   RS   RA   DIFF   ACTUAL / GB
Yankees    29  24  ---   249  226  + 23    29-24  1.5
Red Sox    29  25  0.5   283  261  + 22    28-26  3.0
Blue Jays  29  25  0.5   260  238  + 22    28-26  3.0
Rays       29  25  0.5   230  212  + 18    31-23  ---
Orioles    27  27  2.0   236  236  +  0    30-24  1.0

Tonight: Rays/Yankees, Blue Jays/White Sox