What a difference a week makes in AL East

BALTIMORE — When the Orioles departed from Fenway Park late on the evening of Sept. 14 and boarded the buses that would take them to the airport for their charter flight home, they were a team moving in the right direction in every possible way.

They had taken the last two games against the first-place Red Sox to pull within a single game of the lead in the American League East. They had gotten terrific starting pitching from Kevin Gausman, eight shutout innings, in the getaway game. They had won nine of their last 13. They were on a roll.

Boston by contrast, was facing a gauntlet, including a four-game road rematch against the Birds beginning just five days later.

Four nights in September, which, as it turned out, changed everything.

The Red Sox not only completed a sweep with a 5-3 win Thursday, but they extended their winning streak to eight games. They stretched their lead to 5 1/2 games over Toronto and seven over Baltimore with just nine games left in the regular season.

“We focus on the task at hand,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “It’s about taking care of what we need to do to prepare. It says our guys are looking forward to challenges that are thrown our way.”

Meanwhile, Orioles closer Zach Britton said he and his teammates are well aware of the hole they’ve dug for themselves.

“This series is over. It’s disappointing,” he said. “It would have been a nice time to at least stay close for the division. We should be playing better ball than what we showed. Give then credit, too. But right now, everything’s not really clicking for us.

“I think you’ve got to be realistic about where we are at this point after losing four. It’s kind of time to light a fire under our [rear ends], because those other teams playing for the Wild Card right now [Tigers, Astros, Mariners, Yankees] are right there. You kind of need to look over your shoulder if you …

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