More Orioles notes and quotes (O's win 7-5, Britton gets the save)

Alejandro De Aza is leading off again tonight for the Orioles, though manager Buck Showalter remains flexible when choosing a hitter for the top of the order.

De Aza has batted first in seven of the nine games, including tonight. He's 9-for-30 (.300) with a double, two home runs and four RBIs, but he's also struck out 11 times.

Only Chris Davis (12) has fanned more than De Aza.

"I'd rather he didn't and I'm hoping that gets better," Showalter said. "That hasn't been the norm, but I'm not married to anything there. He's a good candidate and he's had some experience with it.

"I'm not a big proponent of a conventional batting order. That's why I like hitting Adam (Jones) third right now as well as he's swinging the bat, try to get him maybe an extra at-bat here and there. And you have to make sure you try to protect him. And as an important, can you protect the guy who's protecting him from a bullpen move? So you can't hit somebody behind him that they can do something with.

"But the only way you can pitch around Adam is if you put four (fingers) up. You better get it over in the other batter's box."

Jones has homered in three consecutive games for the sixth time in his career. His longest streak is four in a row on May 23-26, 2013.

Jones is 11-for-17 (.647) with four home runs, nine RBIs and eight runs scored over his last five games. He has knocked in nine of the Orioles' 28 runs scored (32 percent) since April 10.

"He got going a little bit toward the end of spring. He was scuffling a little bit over there and all of a sudden he took off," Showalter said.

"Adam's one of those guys where there's some convenient things to say and that fit, but they're not really the truth. If you go back on the pitches he's gotten for a base hit, maybe half of them are strikes. That's why it's so easy to sit there and go, 'Walk more.' Do you like 100 RBIs, do you like .289-300, do you like Gold Glove center field? Yeah, we'd like for him to be the perfect player, but there's no such thing. And we like him as he is.

"It can get frustrating for him sometimes, but it's kind of who he is. I can't tell you he's doing anything a whole lot different. He's seeing it and hitting it. He's whaling."

Davis is whiffing right now, with eight strikeouts in his last three games. Is there a point where it become alarming to Showalter?

"A point?" he asked.

What about now?

"Of course," he said. "I'm not from the ilk that an out is an out, you know? We have a stat we put in last year called 'pofos,' just to kind of play with the analytics - productive outs for Orioles. Now we get a pofo call in the dugout. Steve Pearce had a big pofo the other day that doesn't go on the stat sheet.

"You'd like to see us get better at that, and him."

Pitcher Bud Norris is trying tonight to become only the third pitcher in 100 years to win his first five career starts against the Yankees.

On this date in 2000, third baseman Cal Ripken Jr. notched his 3,000th career hit with a single off Hector Carrasco in Minnesota.

On this date in 1954, major league baseball returned to Baltimore after a 51-year absence. A crowd of 46,354 watched the Orioles defeat the White Sox 3-1 in the first game played at Memorial Stadium. Bob Turley was the winning pitcher, and catcher Clint Courtney and infielder Vern Stephens homered.

Down on the farm, Triple-A Norfolk's Tyler Wilson allowed four hits in six scoreless innings last night, with no walks and five strikeouts. He threw 77 pitches.

"Boy, Tyler Wilson was good last night. That was really good," said Showalter, who checked the reports from Tides manager Ron Johnson and pitching coach Mike Griffin.

"R.J. and Griff always put in their line, 'Could have pitched at the next level tonight.' That's what you like to hear, 'That would have played at the next level.' "

Nolan Reimold reached base four times and scored a run. He's batting .350/.480/.450 in six games, with two doubles, five walks and two stolen bases.

Steve Clevenger threw out three runners attempting to steal last night and leads the International League with four caught stealings.

Henry Urrutia is batting .391.

Update: Davis singled with two outs in the first to score Everth Cabrera and give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

Cabrera and Travis Snider singled ahead of Davis. Snider is 8-for-22 (.364) this season.

Update II: Bud Norris gave up two runs in the third and trails 2-1. He's up to 53 pitches.

Carlos Beltran delivered a two-run double, barely missing a home run to right-center field, after Jacoby Ellsbury doubled and Chase Headley walked.

Alejandro De Aza has struck out twice, momentarily giving him the team lead with 13. Davis just tied him.

Update III: Alex Rodriguez destroyed a Norris pitch, homering to deep left field in the fourth to give New York a 3-1 lead. Norris is up to 68 pitches through four innings.

That was A-Rod's 656th career home run, four shy of Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list. He's tied with Derek Jeter for ninth place in runs scored with 1,923.

Manny Machado homered leading off the bottom of the fourth, his first of the season.

Update IV: Norris is done after 98 pitches, 57 for strikes. He fell an inning short of qualifying for a quality start.

Norris allowed three runs and five hits in five innings, with two walks, seven strikeouts and a home run. Brad Brach replaced him.

Update V: Jonathan Schoop hit his third home run of the season leading off the bottom of the sixth to tie the game 3-3.

De Aza walked and moved up on Cabrera's sacrifice bunt. Jones was walked intentionally and Delmon Young, pinch-hitter for Snider, singled into left field to break the tie.

Schoop homered off reliever David Carpenter. Young singled off Carpenter's replacement, Justin Wilson.

Davis, who struck out twice tonight to raise his season total to 14, drove in two runs with a double to left-center field. The Orioles now lead 6-3 and the Yankees are making another pitching change.

Update VI: And now the Orioles lead 7-3 after Joseph's third hit of the night. He's 9-for-24 (.375) this season.

Update VII: Tommy Hunter allowed two runs in the eighth. Two of the outs came on long fly balls, with Jones running down Brian McCann's drive to left-center field for a sacrifice fly.

The Orioles bullpen has been scored upon in all nine games.

Update VIII: Game over. Zach Britton stranded two to record his second save in two nights in a 7-5 win.

The Orioles took the series and improved to 5-4.