Wrapping up a 4-1 loss

SARASOTA, Fla. - Oliver Drake entered a tie game today in the top of the ninth inning and let the first three batters reach base, punctuated by Thairo Estrada's three-run homer that gave the Yankees a 4-1 win.

Manager Buck Showalter said infielder Paul Janish probably will make the trip to Clearwater for Tuesday's game against the Phillies.

Infielder Ryan Flaherty will stay back due to a sore right shoulder. Showalter said he's hoping that Flaherty will be available for Wednesday's game against the Red Sox in Sarasota.

"Just a little soreness," he said. "Been throwing a lot. Decided to back off him a couple of days. Expect him to be a player probably the day after tomorrow. I hope anyway. If it doesn't get better we'll look into it a little deeper. But we don't suspect anything more than that right now."

Jonathan Schoop provided the Orioles' only run with a shot to left field that cleared the bleachers in the bottom of the third inning. Schoop was playing his last game before joining Team Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.

"It's a good farewell," Showalter said.

Adam Jones saved a run in the second with a sensational diving catch in right-center field to rob Jorge Mateo.

"Adam made a heck of a play on that ball," Showalter said. "Not many people get to that. That's why things change with depths. The wind's blowing in, you've got a guy up who's not a power hitter. You have to change some things."

Jones threw out a runner at third base Saturday in Bradenton and made a diving grab today. If he's playing too shallow, it's working in the first week of games.

"It's something that we've discussed and looked at and Adam's all-in," Showalter said. "He's a very receptive guy if your presentation is right because he wants what's best for the team. Where Adam plays, a lot of it is dictated by ...

"It's not some blanket that you put over it. That's where the mistake is made. It's who's hitting, where's the ballpark, what are the conditions, who's pitching, what situation is the game in, is it Zach Britton, is it a fly ball pitcher? Anybody who just says, 'This is what you do every time' is going to make a lot of mistakes and you're going to regret it. You're going to take away a lot of skills that guys possess.

"It would be interesting if you polled the pitchers where they'd like him to play. But we learn from other things that you see. There are situations where you might be, but that's what spring training is for. It's something we have and will discuss and see what adjustments we want to make."

Left-hander Donnie Hart struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. He's retired all six batters he's faced so far with a pair of strikeouts.

Hart retired Estrada today on a liner to first and struck out Cito Culver and Rashad Crawford. The first two batters hit from the right side, which is significant. Right-handers batted .292 against him last season and left-handers were 5-for-38 with 11 strikeouts.

"He's been impressive so far," Showalter said of Hart.

"I told you all before when I kept looking at this guy and kept asking about him, when you see guy at that angle who's closing for an upper-level team, that tells you he can defend himself against right-handed hitters at that level. The first thing that hit me was changeup and command. Donnie showed me that he can get the ball on the inner half of the plate and either be a strike in there or off the plate and not miss out over it.

"He's very conscientious, athletic, a strike-thrower. He's got a chance to help us. I like Donnie. He's very serious about the right things."

Starter Ubaldo Jiménez was charged with one run over two innings after Austin Romine reached in the first inning on a bouncer that eluded first baseman Mark Trumbo.

"I don't want to jinx him," Showalter said. "His delivery has been about as tight as I've seen it as far as the workout, even the side days, the pitching. You've all seen some of the spring training outings when he's trying to get his work in and depending on how you score balls, he had a lot of ground balls. He threw strikes and he's done it two or three times.

"In the first couple of workdays, I could tell. I was telling Roger (McDowell), 'Have you done anything with him?' He said, 'No.' I'm hoping he found something last year and he's going to run with it this year."

McDowell inherits the job of trying to keep Jiménez from losing the consistency in his mechanics and home plate.

"I'm not saying Roger's just walking around and saying, 'I'll let him do whatever,' " Showalter said. "Talking with him and trying not to get him over-coached. We've got a long time down here and he's doing well, though it's kind of like I tell the hitters all the time, 'You're going good, you're swinging the bat well, you need to make some notes, actually write down some notes, what you're feeling, what are some things? You're going to want to reach back for that.

"Sometimes it's the feeling as much as it is the mechanics of it. I know Roger's trying to figure it out now. 'You're in a pretty good groove. How do you feel? What do you do?' Then you also talk some mechanical things. So far, so good. I'm encouraged about Ubaldo. He could mean a lot to us. It's a big year for him."

Jiménez, a pending free agent, is most responsible for himself. There's only so much that others can do for him.

"It's about the player," Showalter said. "If it was that easy, you'd just say, 'Take your left little toe and make sure it's pointed in that direction and everything's fine.' I wish it was that easy. It's hard to stay together mechanically for 100 pitches every fifth day.

"Last year, he got into a real good groove and some of that was part of it. And sometimes, it's a placebo. It's about the results. It's still about the results."