O's rally falls short in 8-6 loss to Yankees

Well, tonight the Orioles could not come all the way back. They got another shaky starting pitching performance but this time could not quite put up a big enough number on offense to still get a win. But they came close.

Trailing by seven heading to the seventh tonight, the Orioles scored six runs to pull within a run. But they would lose by an 8-6 score to the Yankees to fall to 31-23 and one game behind Boston for the AL East lead.

Held to three hits in six scoreless innings, the Orioles' offense exploded for three homers and six runs in that seventh inning. It started with a 450-foot homer to center by Mark Trumbo off Ivan Nova. It was No. 18 for Trumbo and his 12th over his past 30 games.

After Matt Wieters' infield hit, Pedro Alvarez hit one down the left-field line. It made the seats for his fifth homer and it was 7-3. After Jonathan Schoop's bloop hit and a walk to Ryan Flaherty, right-hander Nick Goody replaced Nova. But Adam Jones greeted him with a three-run homer to left on a 1-0 pitch. Jones hit No. 8 and suddenly a 7-0 lead was down to 7-6 as a Camden Yards crowd of 33,170 came to life.

The Yankees then brought in lefty Andrew Miller, who retired the next three hitters on 15 pitches to restore order for them. Miler also pitched a 1-2-3 eighth frame. Then an Alex Rodriguez RBI single off Vance Worley in the ninth provided a big insurance run and the 8-6 lead. Aroldis Chapman allowed a two-out walk to Jones in the last of the ninth but fanned pinch-hitter Nolan Reimold to wrap up the win.

Earlier, for the fifth game in a row, an O's starting pitcher allowed five runs or more. Tyler Wilson allowed five runs and seven hits over four innings as his ERA jumped to 4.39. In the five games since Wilson gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings on Monday versus Boston, O's starters have an ERA of 10.03, giving up 26 runs in 23 1/3 innings.

O's starting pitchers have just one quality start in the last 10 games and just five over the past 19 games. The rotation ERA is 6.68 in that 19-game span.

New York scored four runs in the fourth to expand a 1-0 lead into a 5-0 edge. Single runs in the fifth and sixth made it 7-0. Starlin Castro and Austin Romine had two RBIs each.

The Orioles have lost eight of their last 12 games and saw their three-game win streak snapped. New York, which won for the second time in six games, improves to 26-29 and 2-3 versus the Orioles.

This three-game series concludes on Sunday afternoon when Kevin Gausman (0-3, 3.78 ERA) faces Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia (3-4, 2.85 ERA).