Finally back in the win column: Matusz pitches Orioles past New York

Not only did Brian Matusz end his long losing steak tonight, but he did it against one of baseball's best offenses in their home park. Matusz gave up just one run over 6 1/3 innings as the Orioles beat the Yankees 7-1 to even this three-game series at Yankee Stadium. For Matusz, it is his first win since June 6 of last year against Oakland. For Orioles manager Buck Showalter, it's the 1,000th of his career. No doubt a meaningful win for the Birds. For Matusz, in 14 starts since the 2011 win against the A's, the left-hander was 0-12 with an ERA of 10.47 and the team was 1-13 in those starts. Now they've won the last two times Matusz has been on the mound. Tonight, the 25-year-old lefty gave up six hits with one walk and four strikeouts to improve to 1-3 on the year with an ERA of 4.67. Matusz threw 97 pitches. Over his past two starts, he has allowed just one earned run over 12 1/3 innings. Orioles starters have recorded eight quality starts over the last nine games with an ERA of 1.88 in that stretch. The Orioles improved to 15-9 on the year, 7-5 on the road and 1-4 against New York. They have won seven of the last nine games. Earlier, Chris Davis hit a solo homer, his fourth in the last seven games and J.J. Hardy hit a two-run shot for the Orioles to give the team a 3-1 lead in the third. Nick Johnson reached on a two-base, two-run error in the sixth inning and ripped an RBI double in the eighth for his first hit of the year after an 0-for-29 start.