If the Orioles are looking for good news out of Sunday’s finale to their season-opening series at Fenway Park, it’s that they only have to face Adam Duvall in 10 more games instead of 16.

The Boston Red Sox center fielder continued to pound Baltimore pitching in Sunday’s series-ending 9-5 victory as the Orioles dropped a set they were an out from claiming. Duvall, who signed with Boston this offseason, is well on his way to joining a list of Baltimore terrorizers around the American League East, one that as of late has included Gleyber Torres, Randal Grichuk and Randy Arozarena, after going 8-for-14 with three doubles and two home runs in the series. That performance included a walk-off home run Saturday after Orioles left fielder Ryan McKenna dropped what would have been a game-ending flyball with two outs in the ninth.

Major League Baseball’s scheduling changes, which include each team facing the other 29, mean six fewer games against each divisional opponent, but this opening series showed that every AL East matchup will be a challenge for the Orioles. Each of the five teams consider themselves playoff contenders, though Baltimore and Boston are viewed as a tier beneath New York, Toronto and Tampa Bay, all postseason teams a year ago.

For the Orioles (1-2) to reach that point this season, they will need their pitching to improve. Baltimore allowed nine or more runs in each of its first three games for the first time since 2005. Last season, pitching was an unexpected strength in the Orioles’ 83-79 campaign.

The club made moves this offseason to improve their pitching, though they entered the year without a true stop starter. Baltimore signed starter Kyle Gibson and reliever Mychal Givens to one-year contracts and traded top 15 prospect Darell Hernaiz to the Oakland Athletics for left-hander Cole Irvin and a minor league pitcher. Givens started the year on the injured list with left knee inflammation, while Gibson, whose $10 million deal is the largest guarantee the Orioles have given out since 2018, pitched into the middle innings on opening day.

Irvin got the start in Sunday’s rubber match. A control artist who averaged nearly 180 innings for Oakland the past two seasons, Irvin’s first with Baltimore started with trouble. An infield hit, a soft single and a walk loaded the bases with no outs, with Masataka Yoshida’s grounder plating the game’s first run. Kiké Hernández homered off Irvin in the second, and with Irvin an out from a clean third, Duvall doubled then scored on a single by Alex Verdugo.

After Irvin worked a scoreless fourth, the Orioles tied the game on home runs from Adam Frazier — another of Baltimore’s offseason acquisitions — and Cedric Mullins. But Boston got those three runs right back, opening the fifth with three hits off Irvin before Duvall scored two with a single.

Baltimore got back within a run after Mullins’ two-run single against former Oriole Richard Bleier, continuing Mullins’ early success against left-handed pitchers, but the Orioles’ bullpen surrendered three more runs, giving up 12 runs in the series.

This story will be updated.

Orioles at Rangers

Monday, 8:05 p.m.

TV: MASN2

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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