BALTIMORE — The Red Sox appeared to be condemned to another defeat, and more lost ground in the standings. Jon Lester fell flat out of the gate, allowing five runs in the first two innings, and with the Sox having an offense that had been stripped bare, there was little reason to believe that the 5-2 deficit would be anything but insurmountable.

But the Sox, who had not scored more than three runs in any of their previous five games, exploded for six runs in the seventh inning, part of the team’s biggest offensive output in 16 games, en route to a 9-6 comeback victory.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX

–The lineup showed life. The Sox had been 3-17 in games in which they’d allowed five or more runs since the All-Star break. They seemed poised to suffer another such defeat. But the eruption for six runs in the seventh marked a rare night in the second half in which the bats carried a struggling pitcher to a win.

–Marco Scutaro hit his first homer since July 30, ending a drought that had reached 119 at-bats. The two-run shot allowed the Red Sox to tie the game, 5-5, in the top of the seventh inning. Scutaro managed a pair of hits and scored a pair of runs, offering evidence that he can remain productive despite his ongoing rotator cuff issues.

–Adrian Beltre‘s three-run homer in the top of the seventh barely got out, but he likely didn’t care about style points. His 24th homer of the year was his first in two weeks.

–Jon Lester recovered from a brutal start. After giving up five runs on six hits before recording his sixth out, he settled to give his team a chance to come back. Lester retired 11 straight at one stretch and didn’t allow another run, and finished with 10 strikeouts.

His utterly brutal first two innings, in which he had no command, should not be forgotten. It’s also worth noting that he has gone just 4-5 with a 4.34 ERA in the second half. Even so, the fact that he regrouped in time to claim his 15th win of the year was noteworthy. Moreover, Lester not only avoided his first career loss to Baltimore, but actually improved to 13-0 against the Orioles, the longest current winning streak by any pitcher against any team.

–David Ortiz snapped a seven-game streak without an RBI, while Ryan Kalish ended a 12-game drought.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX

–Bill Hall entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh inning. After working the count full, he fouled off three straight pitches before striking out swinging on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. he went on to strike out a second time. Amazingly, Hall has now gone 79 straight plate appearances without a walk, dating to July 28.

–Daniel Bard allowed a run in two innings. While his performance was quite strong, his extended effort means that he is likely unavailable on Thursday in the series finale.

–The Yankees and Rays both won, meaning that the Sox remained eight and seven games behind the two postseason front runners with just 29 games left.