Red Sox rally to beat the Orioles and win fifth straight, completing sweep

“We feel better than [Saturday], but it doesn’t guarantee you anything,” manager Alex Cora said. “[Monday] is a great day to reset.”

The Red Sox have a day off Monday before taking on the Mets for a two-game set. Then they will host the Yankees, who dropped to 1½ games out of a wild-card spot after suffering a 11-1 beating from the Indians Sunday. The Blue Jays, who have won seven of nine, are a game behind the Red Sox after beating the Twins, 5-3.

The Red Sox have a favorable schedule for the next 11 games. After the Yankees, the team finishes off its season with series against the Orioles and the Nationals, respectively.

Toronto starts a three-game set in Tampa Bay on Monday, while the Yankees end the season with three games in Toronto, followed by three games with the Rays in New York.

“We’re coming off of five wins now,” said Nate Eovaldi, who tossed five innings Sunday, striking out eight and yielding three runs. “With that momentum coming into the schedule that we have, it’s going to be key for us to, you know, continue that success and try not to look too far ahead and focus on our goal.”

Certainly, the Sox should like their chances to get to the playoffs. Yet the Red Sox also know what it’s like to underestimate an opponent. In April, the same Oriole team that now has 102 losses came into Fenway and swept.

“That was a hard lesson,” Cora said. “The first three games of the season against them. We felt coming into the season, we were going to be a good team. And then that happened. And it was a wake-up call. It wasn’t the end of the season. But it’s a good reminder that when you play bad baseball, you’re going to get beat. When you play good baseball, you’ve got a chance to win.”

The Red Sox are 12-1 against the Orioles since that weekend. Sunday was much of the same.

The Red Sox pounced on Orioles starter Alexander Wells for three runs in the first inning. After loading the bases. he hit Bobby Dalbec with a pitch to bring in the first run. A Kevin Plawecki two-run single made it 3-0.

The Sox took a 4-0 lead into the third inning, but Eovaldi endured a three-run inning of his own after an RBI double by Anthony Santander and a two-run single by Austin Hays.

The Red Sox got a little more breathing room when J.D. Martinez homered in the third.

If there’s concern for this Red Sox club moving forward it’s as a result of the seventh inning, when Garrett Whitlock — who took over for Eovaldi in the sixth — exited the game with right pectoral tightness.

Cora then called on Hirokazu Sawamura, who issued two straight walks and yielded a two-run, bases-clearing double to Trey Mancini, putting the Sox in a 6-5 hole.

That would be short-lived, though, following a three-run seventh by the Sox which put away the Orioles for good.

The Red Sox can smell October, but, again, aren’t looking ahead. They can feel the weather changing here in New England, turning from humid to brisk, but, again, they aren’t basking in it just yet. It’s too close. Still some things to be determined. Despite the weekend sweep coming against the decrepit Orioles, you play who’s in front of you.

That counts for something — maybe even a shot at a one-game playoff.

“When games matter every game becomes like a playoff game. Every pitch matters, every play matters,” Kiké Hernández said. “It’s a lot of fun.”