After gaining lead, O's fall to New York after Castro hangs slider

For the Orioles and their fans it was a frustrating night as three poorly executed pitches wound up in the seats. The New York Yankees hit three more homers tonight and beat the Orioles 6-4 at Camden Yards.

After a 4-1 start, the Orioles have allowed 19 runs during a three-game losing streak.

After the Birds had taken a 4-3 lead in the home seventh, Miguel Castro hung a slider and Clint Frazier hit it into the left field stands for three runs and an 6-4 lead in the eighth. Castro was one good pitch away from getting out of a two-on, two-out jam on a 2-2 pitch. But the hanger turned into Frazier's first homer of 2019. Castro has allowed three homers and five runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Down 3-2 to the last of the seventh, the Orioles scratched out just enough of a rally to take the lead. A bobbled ground ball and a daring stolen base factored in as the Orioles scored two runs on one hit to move ahead 4-3.

Right-hander Jonathan Holder hit No. 9 batter Cedric Mullins to begin the inning, and Mullins went to third on Jonathan Villar's single to right. Chris Davis pinch-hit for Joey Rickard and hit a grounder near the first base bag, and first-sacker Greg Bird bobbled it just enough to benefit the Orioles. He threw home, but Mullins was safe and the game was tied. With one out and Rio Ruiz in as a pinch-hitter, Villar broke for third, the throw was late and he was 90 feet away from scoring a go-ahead run.

That steal would prove big when Ruiz, on an 0-2 pitch, drilled a 96 mph heater to deep center for a sac fly. It was 4-3 Orioles after they scratched out two big runs.

Earlier, Dylan Bundy took the mound and struggled again. For the second game in a row, the right-hander faced the Yankees. Both times he went just 3 2/3 innings.

Bundy threw two very hittable pitches to slugger Aaron Judge, and Judge hit them both over 400 feet. He blasted a solo homer to center for a 1-0 lead two batters into the game. Then he blasted a two-run shot to center in the third for a 3-1 lead. Judge had no homers for the season and then hit two in the first three frames tonight. He had been 2-for-13 with six strikeouts and one homer in his career versus Bundy.

Orioles pitchers have allowed at least one home run in all eight games this season. They've allowed 16 on the year, nine in the last three games and seven in the first two games in this series.

Judge began tonight just 4-for-17 with no homers and 10 strikeouts this year against O's pitching. But he started to turn that around in a big way, producing his eighth career multi-homer game and his fourth against Baltimore.

Bundy just poorly located both homer pitches tonight. He did so with a 91.7 mph fastball on a 2-2 pitch in the opening inning. And he hung a slider on a 3-2 count in the third.

He had not allowed a homer in his first start but gave up two tonight after leading the majors last season with 41 allowed, and set an O's record. Through two starts he has a 7.36 ERA.

The O's got some solid bullpen work tonight. John Means threw an inning scoreless. Nate Karns got into a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and then Pedro Severino and Paul Fry bailed him out. Severino picked a runner off third and Fry got a strikeout and groundout to keep the score 3-2 New York. Fry threw an important 2 1/3 scoreless tonight.

But a possible comeback win was spoiled by a hanging breaking ball and another Yankees home run. They've hit seven in this series accounting for all 14 of their runs.