BALTIMORE — Chris Tillman pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, Adam Jones homered twice and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-0 Friday night to end a three-game skid.
The loss dropped the Red Sox a percentage point behind Tampa Bay in the AL East, pending the Rays' game against the Yankees. Boston, which has dropped six of nine, had been alone atop the division since May 27.
Tillman (13-3) tied a career high with eight strikeouts in becoming the Orioles' first 13-game winner since Erik Bedard in 2007. In his past three starts against Boston, the right-hander is 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA.
Jones hit a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the fifth to help Baltimore bounce back from three successive losses in Kansas City. It was the third multihomer game of his career.
Manny Machado and J.J. Hardy also homered for the Orioles, who improved to 6-2 against Boston this season.
All three home runs were off John Lackey (7-8), who yielded a season-high tying five runs in 6 1-3 innings. The right-hander came in with a 12-4 lifetime record against the Orioles and had allowed two runs or fewer in six of seven starts since June 15.
Jacoby Ellsbury had half of Boston's four hits. The Red Sox got only one runner past second base in their eighth shutout loss of the year.
Tillman began the game with a wild streak, giving up a single and a pair of two-out walks to load the bases in the first inning before striking out Daniel Nava on three pitches.
