Flaherty carries momentum to New York (Reimold homers)

NEW YORK - Remember that two-out single by Ryan Flaherty in Boston that broke an 0-for-17 streak and ignited a late game-winning rally? He's staying hot. Flaherty homered off Yankees starter Phil Hughes with one out in the second inning to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead. It's his first homer of the season, and his first since Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Oct. 9 in the Bronx. Flaherty is now 2-for-19, which only sounds bad if you didn't know about the 0-for-17 start. Hughes threw Flaherty two curveballs and two four-seam fastballs before offering up an 81-mph slider that landed in the right field seats. The Yankees cut the lead in half on Travis Hafner's homer off Jason Hammel leading off the bottom of the second inning, and they tied the score with two outs on J.J. Hardy's two-base throwing error and Lyle Overbay's bloop single into center field. Hammel retired the side in order in the first on 11 pitches, eight of them strikes. He's charged with one earned run in the second, the error leading to an unearned run. Ichiro Suzuki grounded out in the second, making him 9-for-19 lifetime against Hammel. Nick Markakis opened the third with a long home run to right field, giving the Orioles a 3-2 lead. He launched a 90-mph fastball for his second homer of the season and his fourth RBI. The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the first on Nate McLouth's leadoff double, Manny Machado's sacrifice bunt, a walk to Markakis and Adam Jones' fielder's choice grounder. Couldn't tell from the replay whether Jones blew a bubble leaving the box. McLouth singled with two outs in the second and tried to score on Machado's single off the right field fence. McLouth appeared to run through third base coach Bobby Dickerson's stop sign and was an easy out. He didn't even bother to slide. Update: The Orioles scored another run in the third as fans here booed Hughes. Jones followed Markakis' homer with a single and raced to third on Chris Davis' double. Jones scored on Hardy's grounder to short. Orioles 4, Yankees 2. The Orioles have seven hits in three innings. Nolan Reimold popped up in the second inning, making Orioles designated hitters 1-for-34. Update II: Reimold hit his first home run of the season leading off the top of the fourth. We can adjust the DH stat to 2-for-35, with Reimold responsible for both hits. Hughes was removed after McLouth followed with a double, the outfielder's third hit of the day. Fans had lost their patience with the right-hander a few innings ago. Hammel has allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits in four innings, with no walks and three strikeouts. He's thrown 59 pitches, 43 for strikes.