BOSTON — Chris Davis hadn't thrown a pitch in nearly six years, dating to his days as a draft hopeful playing at a small junior college in Corsicana, Texas.

But more than five hours — and 15 innings — into the Baltimore Orioles' series finale with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon-turned-evening, Manager Buck Showalter turned to Davis, the club's everyday first baseman, in the visiting dugout and directed him toward the bullpen to warm up.

The Orioles had exhausted all other relief options — eight relievers combined to allow one run over seven innings — in a game tied at 6.

Davis shrugged. His day couldn't get much worse. He already had struck out five times and grounded into a double play as the Orioles' designated hitter.

“I'm like, sweet,” Davis said. “I get to try something different today because hitting ain't working.”

The few thousands remaining from the announced sellout crowd of 37,394 did a double take when he jogged to the mound from right field. That's when Davis wrote his own chapter in history, becoming the first player to go 0-for-8 from the plate and earn a win in 107 years.

The 26-year-old Davis went on to pitch two shutout innings and center fielder Adam Jones hit a three-run homer in the top of the 17th inning to give the Orioles a 17-inning win over the Red Sox, 9-6, in the second-longest game in Orioles history.

“It was bizarre,” Jones said. “It was fun, it was awesome, it was exhausting, it was exhilirating. That was awesome, top to bottom, six hours. Started off right, it ended right, a lot of stuff in between. It's just a big, big win and it put everybody to an emotional test. We could have easily just folded, but we wanted it every inning and we were, after 17, win it.”

The Orioles earned their first three-game sweep at Fenway Park in 18 years. Baltimore's win sealed their fifth straight win in Boston and their first three-game sweep of the Red Sox here since June 10-12, 1994.

After their second extra-inning win in three games here, the Orioles will arrive home from their six-game road trip to New York and Boston sitting atop the AL East standings with a 19-9 record, a half-game in front of the Rays. It's the first time the Orioles are in first place this far into a season since 2005.

“Just when you think you've seen it all, some days you just come out here and assume the position,” said Showalter, who won his 1,000th career game earlier this week. “You talk about team wins, I'd like to see somebody top that one team-wise. I think everybody made a contribution. If there's such a thing as having as rough a day as you can have, for Chris to end up being maybe the star of the game, so to speak, that's hard to believe.”

It was the Orioles' fourth straight extra-inning victory — all coming on the road — after losing their first two at home, both against the Yankees. It was also the Orioles' fifth straight win at Fenway and their seventh win in their past eight against the Red Sox. The Orioles passed the test of this trip, going 5-1 on the road against the perennial division powers.