O's can't hold lead, lose series opener to New York

The Orioles have a 12-7 record against the American League East this year. That includes a mark of 10-2 against every team but New York and a 2-5 record against the Yankees. Mark Teixeira hit a two-run, tie-breaking homer off Luis Ayala in the top of the seventh tonight, as New York beat the Orioles 8-5 in front of 16,492 wet fans at Camden Yards. The Orioles fell to 0-4 at home against New York. The Orioles scored three runs in the fifth to take a 5-3 lead. They tied the game at 3-3 on a Xavier Avery triple and went ahead by two on a J.J. Hardy homer. Avery added a double in the contest for his first two major league hits, and Hardy had three RBIs. But the Yankees took advantage of a bases-loaded error by first baseman Chris Davis and three walks in the sixth to tie the game before moving ahead an inning later. Teixeira had just one RBI in 28 at-bats this year against the Orioles before connecting for his key homer. The Yankees added a run in the ninth as they scored the game's final five runs. Jason Hammel was looking to become the first Orioles starter to ever allow two runs or less in his first seven starts to a season. But he gave up five runs (four earned) and seven hits over five-plus innings. It was the seventh time in the last nine games when the Orioles failed to get a quality start and the starters' ERA in that time is 7.25. The rotation is averaging less than 5 2/3 innings per outing. New York improved to 20-15 with its sixth win over the last eight games and pulled to within a game and a half of the first-place Orioles. Nine of the last 12 games between these teams have been decided by two runs or less and the Orioles are just 2-7 in those contests. The Orioles fall to 22-14 on the year and are 14-6 over the last 20 games. They have lost back-to-back games against division foes after a stretch where they won seven in a row and 10 of 11 in the AL East. In the series finale tomorrow night, it's Wei-Yin Chen (3-0, 2.68 ERA) for the Orioles and CC Sabathia (5-0, 3.51 ERA) for the Yankees.