Brock Holt Dashes Home (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)

The Red Sox shut out the Orioles yesterday, and didn’t allow a run for the entire three-game series with Baltimore. This was a little surprising, given that the Orioles were only 4 games out of a Wild Card spot entering play on Friday. Regardless, it was a nice way to tie a bow on baseball in Boston for 2015. The Red Sox will finish out the rest of the season on the road.

The birds’ bats looked particularly weak on Sunday, as they managed only five hits, several of which were of the infield variety. Henry Owens looked sharp, logging his best outing of the year, and pitching into the 8th for the third consecutive time.

The Red Sox scored twice, once on a not-so-wild pitch from O’s starter Ubaldo Jimenez, and once on a solo dinger by Blake Swihart. The wild pitch was a routine ball in the dirt, but Brock Holt made a great read on it and dashed home from third before catcher Caleb Joseph could corral it.

Robbie Ross Jr. pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 6th save of the season and lower his ERA under 4.

Notes:

-The Red Sox played a video tribute to Don Orsillo before the top of the 8th that NESN, of course, didn’t air. Sadly, and unnecessarily, it was Don’s last game at Fenway. Not shown in that clip is the tribute itself, Orsillo choking up as he called the next few pitches from Owens, or the crowd chanting his name. I got unreasonably emotional watching that play out.

-The Sox also honored Larry Lucchino before the game, as he will be stepping down as the President and CEO of the organization after this season. Love him or hate him, he’s had an undeniably positive impact on this organization since this ownership group took over in 2001.

-Thanks to the sweep, the Red Sox now have a good shot at finishing the season in third place.

PS: Lefty and I are playing each other in the championship matchup for our fantasy baseball league. See! We really do know our stuff.