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Orioles take aim at 8th straight win at Fenway

Jun 7, 2012 - 2:35 PM (Sports Network) - Baltimore left-hander Brian Matusz takes aim at a fifth win in six starts this evening when the Baltimore Orioles go for a sweep in the finale of their three-game set with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

After starting the year 1-4, Matusz reeled off three straight wins before losing to Kansas City on May 27. He bounced back in a big way on Saturday, as he defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, holding them to a run and two hits in 7 1/3 frames to even his record at 5-5, while lowering his earned run average to 4.41.

Matusz beat the Red Sox back on May 22 and is 3-1 in seven starts against them with a 3.58 ERA.

Boston, meanwhile, will counter with righty Clay Buchholz, who will be trying to string a third straight quality start together tonight.

Buchholz is 5-2, but his record does not indicate just how bad he has been at times this season, as he owns a 6.58 earned run average. However, he has started to turn it around in his last two starts, giving up just four runs in his last 15 innings.

The 27-year-old righty, who has given up just two runs in three of his last four starts, beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, holding them to a pair of runs and six hits in eight innings. He also struck out seven and walked two.

Buchholz is 5-3 lifetime versus the O's with a 4.16 ERA in 12 games, 11 starts.

The Orioles picked up their seventh straight win at Fenway Park on Tuesday, as Wei-Yin Chen threw seven shutout innings and Robert Andino hit an RBI single in a two-run sixth, leading Baltimore to a 2-1 victory.

"I like Chen. He comes from Taiwan and he's a rookie in this league, but he ain't scared," remarked Andino. "He kept us in the game and gave us a chance to score some runs."

Baltimore, which had won six in a row at the storied ballpark for the fourth time, improved to 6-2 against the Red Sox this season and moved back into first place in the AL East.

Chen (5-2) allowed seven hits but no walks while striking out four to snap a personal three-game winless streak. Prior to that, the 26-year-old rookie had been 4-0 over his first seven major league outings.

Josh Beckett (4-6) gave up just two runs on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts in eight innings, the fifth straight time he went at least seven. But the 32-year-old righty remained winless (0-1) in his last three starts.

"He was efficient with great stuff," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine about Beckett. "He deserved better."