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Jun 29, 2009 - 12:20 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Boston (46-28) at Baltimore (34-40), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The Boston Red Sox boast one of the top offenses in the majors but they've struggled to score lately. That hasn't been a problem for them against the Baltimore Orioles, though.

The AL East-leading Red Sox look to get their offense back on track and win their eighth straight over the Orioles when they open a three-game series in Baltimore on Monday night.

Led by Jason Bay's league-leading 69 RBIs and Kevin Youkilis' AL-best .443 on-base percentage, Boston (46-29) is fourth in the majors in runs (391). The high-powered offense has cooled off, however, plating one run in each of its last two games and totaling only nine in the past four contests.

In Sunday's 2-1 loss to Atlanta, the Red Sox were limited to three hits through the first eight innings until Youkilis singled and Jason Varitek drove him in with a base hit.

"It seems like every time we got something going, we were one big hit away," leadoff hitter Dustin Pedroia told the Red Sox's official Web site. "We hit some balls good and just no luck."

A series against a Baltimore team that has the majors' third-worst ERA (4.97) could be enough to get Boston's offense turned around.

The Red Sox outscored the Orioles 30-14 in sweeping a four-game series in Boston from April 17-20 and have plated 56 runs in winning the last seven meetings. The Red Sox have won 11 of the last 12 in the series and five of the last seven at Camden Yards.

Pedroia, 1 for 8 in the last two games, was instrumental to Boston's success against the Orioles (34-41) in April, going 9 for 18 with two doubles, four RBIs and five runs. He is hitting .453 (24 for 53) with two home runs, 15 RBIs and 15 runs in his last 12 games versus Baltimore.

Jon Lester (6-6, 4.68 ERA) has also been at his best against the Orioles, and he'll look to continue that dominance when he takes the mound in the series opener.

Lester is 7-0 with a 2.45 ERA in nine career starts versus Baltimore and has posted a 1.38 ERA in winning his last four. On April 19, Lester gave up four hits and struck out nine in seven shutout innings of a 2-1 win.

On Wednesday, the left-hander allowed three runs and six hits with six strikeouts in six innings of a 6-4 win over Washington. Although he recorded his fifth straight quality start, it was the first time since May 26 he gave up more than two runs in an outing.

The Orioles are coming off Sunday's 5-3 loss to Washington and have dropped four of six after winning seven of their previous eight.

Rookie catcher Matt Wieters had a sloppy game, committing a throwing error that allowed a run to score and dropping a throw from center fielder Adam Jones that would've prevented another run from crossing the plate.

"We made too many mistakes in a lot of different areas," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

Jason Berken (1-4, 6.32) will try to help Baltimore earn a rare victory against the Red Sox as he seeks his first win in over a month.

Berken had little trouble recording his first career win, permitting two runs in five innings of a 7-2 victory over Toronto in his first major league start on May 26, but he's 0-4 with a 6.84 ERA in five outings since. On Wednesday, the rookie right-hander allowed three runs and four hits in five innings of a 5-2 loss at Florida.