O's don't score until ninth as Yankees sweep (with quotes)

It was a night where Orioles right-hander Andrew Cashner was getting in a lot of trouble, but he was minimizing the damage. But against struggling right-hander Sonny Gray, the Orioles didn't do any damage.

The Orioles were nearly shut out for the 13th time as they lost 5-1 to New York, which sweeps the day-night doubleheader. The Yankees can sweep a four-game series here on Sunday night.

The Yankees scored in the first inning in both games today. Tonight, Brett Gardner smoked the first pitch of the game to deep center for a ground-rule double. After a walk, Aaron Hicks' RBI single made it 1-0. But Cashner picked Hicks off first base and held that rally to one run.

New York loaded the bases with one out in the second. Again, Cashner bent but didn't break. He threw a wild pitch to score a second run. New York made it a 3-0 lead on a grounder to first by Gardner. Trey Mancini fired home, but his throw was wide of the plate as Austin Romine scored.

Mancini's error led to an unearned run in the Yankees fourth that scored on a two-out single to right by Giancarlo Stanton. His 82nd RBI extended the lead to 4-0. Austin Romine's solo homer in the ninth off Miguel Castro completed the New York scoring.

Cashner threw 112 pitches in a seven-inning outing. He allowed nine hits and the four runs (three earned) with two walks and four strikeouts. His record is 4-12 and his ERA is 4.79. This was the ninth quality start in his past 14 games, but the Orioles are only 8-17 in his 2018 starts.

Gray was seldom challenged. He gave up just a bloop hit to Mancini and needed just 37 pitches to throw the first three innings. The O's stranded two in scoring position in the fourth. Chris Davis singled with two outs and advanced to third on Mancini's double to right. But Gray fanned Renato Núñez on a slider to end that threat.

When Gray issued a one-out walk in the seventh, Jonathan Holder replaced him. Gray went 6 1/3 innings on three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. He improved to 10-8 with an ERA of 5.05 after his 79-pitch effort.

Gray was making his first start since Aug. 1, when he allowed seven runs to the Orioles in 2 2/3 innings. He was moved to the bullpen after that game, where he had an ERA of 2.89 in four games. But he has struggled as a starter most of this year with an ERA of 5.56 in his 21 starts.

That changed for him tonight, and because of that, the Yankees tomorrow can complete their first four-game sweep of the Orioles in Baltimore since Aug. 14-17, 2003.

The Orioles finally scored on Jace Peterson's two-out RBI single in the last of the ninth. But they've been held to just 16 runs their last eight games.

In the series finale Sunday night, Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy (7-12, 5.31 ERA) pitches opposite right-hander Luis Severino (16-6, 3.28 ERA).

Postgame quotes:

Cashner on his early struggles: "I kind of felt like I was really struggling commanding anything. Off-speed wasn't very good. Fastball was up. Didn't really do a lot of things well, but, you know, after I kind of settled in and just focused really on making pitches, my stuff really picked up towards the end of the game."

Cashner on mindset pitching with a team losing so much: "I think obviously you want to pitch for yourself, too. But you want to try and pick guys up for the club. I think for me, it is just a grinder mentality of never giving in. Constantly grinding pitch to pitch, outing to outing. Whether you're in first or last, it doesn't matter. You're pitching for your team that day and trying to win."

Mancini on Gray, who O's scored seven against a few weeks back: "You know, his slider was really good today. Noticeably different from the last time we faced them. When that is on, he is really a tough guy to face. His fastball is really effective. Two-seamer, ran it in and out and kind of up and down to change eye level, too. He had it going on today."

Mancini on O's losing when getting a quality start: "It's tough. As an offense, you want to give your guys run support. And, you know, it's a tough game. I did not play well at first base today and I didn't help the cause at all. Cashner didn't a great job of damage control there."

Mancini on his throw that was wide and late to home in the second: "The one when I threw home, I gripped it way too tight. And then after that, I don't know if it I got in my head a little bit, but I played a little timid. If you do that here, you will get eaten alive. Up to today, I feel like if I could hang my hat on something this year, I feel like I've played well over there. Today, definitely not the case. So it won't happen again. Just a tough day over there."