Gonzalez starts well, gets hit hard in middle innings as O's fall at New York

When Miguel Gonzalez sailed through the first three innings on just 30 pitches tonight, he looked like he was on his way to a strong outing. He was pitching at Yankee Stadium, where he was 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in four regular season starts. He had an ERA of 2.48 in five career outings against New York. But the Yankees scored twice off Gonzalez in the fourth and knocked him out of the game with a five-run fifth as the Yankees beat the Orioles 8-5 tonight at Yankee Stadium. The Orioles fall to 26-28 against the AL East, 18-19 since the All-Star break and 71-62 with 29 games to play. They are 6-10 over their last 16 games. In the fifth, Gonzalez gave up a double, double, homer, double, single and walk to the first six batters before T.J. McFarland came on in relief. Gonzalez gave up a two-run homer to Ichiro Suzuki in the frame and Robinson Cano's two-run single off McFarland scored two inherited runners. Gonzalez gave up seven runs and six hits over four-plus innings with three walks and no strikeouts. He is now 8-7 with an ERA of 4.11 and has one win in seven starts since the All-Star break. Over the last six games, O's starters have just two quality starts with an ERA of 6.45. All the offense made CC Sabathia a winner even though he gave up five runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 frames. Sabathia entered this start with a 2-3 record and 7.30 ERA over his past seven starts. Nick Markakis went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Orioles. Danny Valencia hit a two-run homer off Sabathia. Chris Davis had an RBI single and has now driven in 122 runs. With the win, the Yankees move to within a half-game of the Orioles for third place in the division. In Saturday's game, which begins at 1:05 p.m., Scott Feldman (4-3, 4.56 ERA) pitches against right-hander Ivan Nova (7-4, 3.14 ERA).