Orioles on upward curve

When the top two teams in the AL East show up at Fenway Park, you expect it to be a Yankees-Red Sox entanglement.

Not this year. At least not so far, because the first-place Orioles increased their division lead to two games over the Red Sox with an 8-4 victory last night.

Red Sox castoff Bruce Chen baffled Boston hitters for six innings, improving his record to 2-1. Chen, who was the loser in an 8-0 blowout last week in Baltimore, had a shaky start as the Sox went ahead, 2-1, in the first inning.

But he figured out how to hold off the Red Sox even though he didn't have his best stuff. He gained a lot of points with manager Lee Mazzilli for that.

"He kind of settled down a little bit," said Mazzilli. "He was up, he wasn't getting outs. He wasn't really extending, getting the ball down in the first inning. But, you know, that's a sign of a quality pitcher, when you don't have your best stuff and you can go out there and make it work."

Sox manager Terry Francona thought they had Chen's number.

"Early on, it looked like we were going to get to him pretty well," said Francona. "The first couple of innings, we put some hits together and had him on the ropes a little bit. Then, as he got to about four innings, we made some quicker outs."

Chen, who pitched for the Red Sox in 2003, figured out how to keep batters off-balance.

"I feel like I didn't have good stuff," said Chen. "I was trying to keep the ball down, using my fastball. It was my curve that did it for me."

As for his change-up, which is usually his out pitch, the Red Sox were sitting on it.

"They are a good hitting ball club," said Chen, who scattered nine hits and three walks over six innings. "It just seemed like they had a good idea when my change-up was coming. I didn't feel very comfortable out there in this park." He didn't fare well when he was a member of the Red Sox, and most of it was psychological.

"When you see the Green Monster, you think it's too close," said Chen. "The best way to approach it is to realize that the other guy has to pitch here, too. If you keep your ball down and you make good pitches, you'll do OK."

The adjustments?

"He just changed speeds," said Mazzilli. "He doesn't give in. You know, he just won't give in to a hitter. And he pitches, and pitches his game, stays with his game plan."

The key blow for the Orioles was a home run by B.J. Surhoff, an aging veteran who was in the game because he had a lifetime .339 batting averages against David Wells.

In the fourth inning, Javy Lopez reached on an infield hit, a play on which Wells hurt his right foot. Wells got Surhoff in an 0-and-2 hole, but Surhoff ended Wells's night with a blast into the right-field seats to make it 5-2.

"Wells and I have been going against each other since 1987," said Surhoff. "There are no secrets. He goes after hitters, and when he puts balls up in the zone, you get him."

Though the Orioles are in first place, Surhoff isn't getting carried away.

"We still have 142 games left," he said. "We got off to a nice 20-game start. It isn't going to be an easy ride. You know the Yankees are going to come after you and you know the Red Sox are playing well."