Davis on blowout losses, Hunter on O's reunion (O's win, 5-0)

NEW YORK - The Orioles have suffered two blowout losses at Yankee Stadium the last two days. While all losses count the same, they may not feel the same.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis seemed to agree with that sentiment when I asked him this morning about the recent run of blowout losses.

"We don't like it," Davis said. "It is one thing to get beat and it's one thing to kind of get your face rubbed in it. It can be something that really unites a team and ignites a fire. I think with the group of guys we have, that is really the case.

"Once you start winning and get a taste of what it feels like to win, you don't like to lose. And sometimes it's good to get your butt kicked and remind you that you still have to put up a fight and do whatever you can to get a win."

Earlier today, right-hander Tommy Hunter talked about rejoining the Orioles.

"I'm thrilled," he said. "Some of my best friends are in (the clubhouse). So, it's been a wild year and a half. It was pretty exciting times in our household last night. There was a lot of things that happened to get me back to this spot. It's come full circle and, to be honest with you, I couldn't be happier."

Does it seem like he was here just yesterday?

"It kinda was. It doesn't go away. There were a lot of memories here. A lot of lasting memories, not only for me, but for my family as well. Baltimore is special to me, my family, it's always going to hold a special place. Walking back through the doors and seeing all the faces I just saw makes you smile pretty big."

Hunter talked about being in the minors most recently and being on the disabled list in July with a non-displaced fracture in his lower back.

"I actually did trip and fall down the stairs with my little man in my arms. I was just changing the diaper, walking down the stairs, my feet came down from underneath me. He's fine. He's good. I think I took the brunt of it, and I was down (on the farm) trying to get better, trying to get back. Now, I'm standing in front of you guys with a big smile on my face."

Hunter gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings this month at Triple-A Columbus before Cleveland released him. He last pitched just a few days ago.

"Wednesday. I'm ready to roll. I threw nine pitches, I think, on Wednesday in an inning in Indianapolis. I've been pain-free for quite a while now, quite a while," he said.

Scoreless early on: The Orioles and Yankees played a scoreless inning and a half at the start today. Manny Machado singled for the O's only hit in the first two innings off CC Sabathia. Aaron Hicks had a one-out bloop single in the New York first off Kevin Gausman. But, he fanned two and threw 22 pitches in a scoreless last of the first.

Still 0-0: Today's game is still without a run through the fifth inning. Sabathia has allowed just two singles and has six strikeouts on 68 pitches. Gausman has allowed six hits on 80 pitches.

Gausman allowed three singles in the last of fourth, but was helped out when Gary Sanchez was thrown out trying to go first to third by right fielder Steve Pearce on a single. Machado also made a diving play at third that inning to get an out.

Now we have a run: Pearce, who is batting leadoff today, led off the O's sixth with a homer to left on a 2-2 pitch to make it 1-0. That was his second homer in 34 at-bats since rejoining the Orioles. Pearce has 12 homers for the season.

Pearce again: Pearce delivered again an inning later with a clutch two out, two-run single to center to make it 3-0. It came off reliever Adam Warren and scored Jonathan Schoop and Nolan Reimold, both of whom had singled off Sabathia. Pearce has a three RBI day and the O's have a 3-0 lead. Sabathia gave up six hits and three runs over 6 2/3 innings.

Before today, Pearce was batting .194 (6-for-31) with one homer and one RBI in 14 games with the Orioles. He had been 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Now a Trumbomb: The Orioles added to their lead when Mark Trumbo hit his 40th homer in the eighth. He hit a two-run shot for a 5-0 lead. The 40 homers ties for seventh-most in O's history.

Trumbo is the fifth-fastest Oriole to get to 40 homers, doing so in Game 129. The four faster were Davis (Game 109 in 2013), Jim Gentile (Game 119 in 1961), Brady Anderson (Game 120 in 1996) and Frank Robinson (Game 123 in 1966)

Hunter came on to pitch the eighth for Gausman, who went seven scoreless on seven hits. He has thrown 13 scoreless innings his past two starts versus Washington and New York.

O's get the finale: They were not swept out of the Bronx. The Orioles won 5-0 today as Gausman, Hunter and Zach Britton combined to throw an eight-hit shutout.

Over seven innings, Gausman allowed seven hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. He improved to 6-10 with an ERA of 3.73.

And there is this: Gausman ended a run of 25 straight road starts without a victory. The streak dated to Aug. 17, 2014. Hunter rejoined the Orioles today and pitched a scoreless last of the eighth. Britton pitched the ninth in a non-save situation to close out the win.

The Orioles blanked a Yankees team that had scored 27 runs on 36 hits Friday and Saturday and was scoring 5.94 runs per game its last 16 games.

The Orioles improved to 71-59 and ended a four-game American League East losing streak. They completed a 2-3 road trip and head home to face first-place Toronto on Monday night. The Blue Jays won today, so the Orioles will begin that series three games back.

Check back later for a wrap-up report from New York with postgame quotes.