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Did Red Sox Trigger Division Rival's Stunning Collapse? originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It's been nearly four weeks since the Baltimore Orioles hosted the Boston Red Sox for a three-game weekend series at Camden Yards in late April, and the two teams have gone in different directions ever since.
The Orioles started the series with a bang, crushing the Red Sox 10-3 in the series opener and running out of celebratory fireworks after smashing six home runs.
Baltimore improved to 13-13 with a plus-three run differential at the time but has completely collapsed since then, going 8-15 with a negative-60 run differential and plummeting from third place to last place in the AL East.
Meanwhile, Boston has played much better baseball and started to turn its season around after starting 9-17, going 12-10 with a plus-17 run differential and climbing out of last place.
The Red Sox immediately bounced back from that embarrassing loss in Baltimore, routing the Orioles 17-1 in the middle game and winning the series finale after firing much of their coaching staff. Their offense has continued to struggle, but their pitching has rounded into form and their defense has been exceptional.
Baltimore's pitching staff has been shockingly bad, allowing the most runs in baseball since April 25 at 6.57 per game. Their lineup has also slumped, averaging just 3.96 runs per game.
In other words, it appears that Boston broke the Orioles.
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