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After a big night from Cedric Mullins helped the Orioles snap their slump, Baltimore will aim for a series win on Wednesday in the decisive contest of a three-game set against the host Boston Red Sox.

With a 5-3 victory over Boston on Tuesday plus the Kansas City Royals’ 5-0 victory over the Yankees, the Orioles moved within one-half game of first-place New York in the American League East.

Mullins hit two home runs as Baltimore ended a three-game losing streak, one night after the Red Sox won 12-3 in the series opener. The Orioles (83-63) scored seven runs in their previous five games, losing four times in that span.

“Cedric for the last couple weeks has taken really good at-bats, and he was huge for us (Tuesday),” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “I was happy with our offense. We didn’t push quite enough across, but I thought we were doing a better job of keeping the line moving, taking walks, and those big hits are going to start coming a little bit more often.”

Mullins belted a solo home run in the first inning and a two-run shot in the third. Both came against Boston starting pitcher Kutter Crawford, who has allowed 31 home runs this season — the most of any major league pitcher. It was the fifth multi-homer game of Mullins’ career.

“I was able to put some really good swings on the ball today,” Mullins said. “It was a good boost for the morale in the clubhouse. … Great momentum going into the next day.”

The Red Sox (73-72) struck out 10 times in the loss as they fell four games behind the Minnesota Twins in the chase for the final American League wild-card berth.

Boston manager Alex Cora admitted he is frustrated with his team’s inconsistent offense. The Red Sox have an 8-49 record this season when they put up fewer than four runs.

“We’re an offensive club, and at one point we were the best offense in baseball,” Cora said. “We felt like whenever we faced a righty we had a chance to score a lot of runs, and we haven’t done that in the last month, month and a half.

“When we were hot, everybody was hitting the ball all over the place, and it just happens that everybody is struggling at the same time.”

The Wednesday probable pitchers are Baltimore right-hander Dean Kremer (7-9, 4.27 ERA) and Boston righty Nick Pivetta (5-10, 4.38).

Kremer began with six no-hit innings in his latest start — a 2-0 victory over Tampa Bay — before Rays rookie Junior Caminero led off the seventh with a single. He didn’t retire either of the next two batters before exiting. It was Kremer’s first start since he was struck on the right forearm by a line drive on Aug. 31.

Kremer is 1-1 with a 6.45 ERA in eight career starts against the Red Sox. He hasn’t faced Boston this year.

Pivetta allowed one run on five hits in six innings during the Red Sox’s 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday, but he didn’t factor in the decision. He struck out six and walked three.

Pivetta is 8-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 13 career starts against the Orioles. He lost at Baltimore on Aug. 15 after giving up three runs on three hits in five innings.

–Field Level Media