Four Real? Red Sox vs Orioles 8-27-13

Shane Victorino points out toward the Green Monster, where he deposited a Wei-Yin Chen fastball for his 100th career homer Tuesday (AP photo)

Jan-Christian Sorensen Contributing Writer

The Red Sox had a little something to prove against Baltimore Tuesday night.

Boston boasts a winning record against all their American League East Division foes save the O’s, who came into the game holding a 6-4 edge on the Sox in the season series.

Make that 6-5 now, after the Sox pounded out 14 hits en route to a 13-2 drubbing of the Birds in Game One of the Fenway series.

Felix Doubront threw 11 pitches and cruised through six-plus innings, allowing only two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out seven to move to 10-6 on the year and lower his ERA to 3.74. Rookie reliever Drake Britton came on to pitch two scoreless frames to lock things down for the Sox once Doubront made his exit.

The only time Doubront got into trouble was the third inning, when he hit Steve Pearce to load the bases with none out and then walked in a run to tie up the game. However, after Manny Machado hit a sac fly to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead, Doubront settled down and got hot-hitting Chris Davis to fly out before striking out Adam Jones to end the threat. Doubront went on to retire 15 of the next 17 he faced before giving way to Britton.

Wei-Yin Chen took the loss for Baltimore, doling out eight runs — all earned — on eight hits while walking three to fall to 7-7 on the year. Oriole relievers Troy Patton and Brian Matusz came on to fan the flames, combining to allow another five runs on five hits.

Shane Victorino was the can't-miss-kid for Boston, going 3 for 3 at the plate with a pair of home runs, a double and a walk, driving in seven runs for the Sox, while Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia each had three-hit nights, with the latter stroking two doubles and collecting two RBI.

Mike Napoli got in on the action in the fourth, smoking a solo bomb that cleared the Green Monster and landed on the roof of the parking garage across Lansdowne for his 17th of the year.

Here are the four at-bats that changed the game:

1) Big Poppy: After Victorino walked and Pedroia laced a wall-ball double off the Monster to put a pair in scoring position with one out in the first inning, David Ortiz ripped a deep sacrifice fly to center that allowed Victorino to race home for the early 1-0 lead.

2) Like Manny From Heaven: After Doubront walked in a run with the bases loaded and none out in the third to tie the game, Manny Machado stroked a sac fly to right that cashed in one-time Red Sock Danny Valencia to give the O’s a brief 2-1 advantage.

3) Shane and Gain: In the home half of the third, Victorino blasted a Chen fastball into the seats atop the Green Monster for his 10th home run of the year and the 100th of his career, driving in Will Middlebrooks ahead of him and lifting the Sox to a 3-2 lead.

4) Walk and Roll: After intentionally walking Ortiz to load the bases in favor of pitching to Jonny Gomes in the fourth, Jonny made ‘em pay, lacing a two-run double off the center field wall to drive in Victorino and Pedroia and give Boston an 8-2 lead.

Meanwhile, in Tampa Bay, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim came back in the top of the ninth against former Angel Fernando Rodney to take a 6-5 victory, giving the 78-55 Red Sox a two-and-a-half-game lead over the 74-56 Rays atop the American League East Division standings.

Tomorrow, John Lackey (8-11, 3.17 ERA) will look to even up the season series against Baltimore when he takes on Bud Norris (3-1, 5.53 ERA) in Game Two of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm EST.

Twitter: @jan_doh