Orioles drop Game 1 of doubleheader for 92nd loss (with quotes)

The Orioles were sorting through their pitching options and making arrangements to have a fresh arm ready today in case they needed to adjust their bullpen between games of their doubleheader against the Yankees.

Jimmy Yacabonis gave them 3 1/3 innings in the opener, which is why a contingency plan is necessary.

The Orioles briefly held a lead that the Yankees ripped from their grasp, the aggression including Miguel Andújar's tiebreaking three-run homer off Yacabonis in the third inning and Brett Gardner's two-run shot off Ryan Meisinger in the fourth.

Well, there's always the chance for a split. And another roster move.

The Yankees pulled away for a 10-3 victory before an announced crowd of 32,445 at Camden Yards, leaving the Orioles with their 92nd loss overall and the 42nd at home. They're 55 games below .500 as Andrew Cashner takes the mound tonight.

The Orioles are in the clutches of their seventh losing streak of six games or more.

Yacabonis threw 20 pitches in the first inning while falling behind 1-0 on a walk, double and Andújar's RBI grounder. He retired the side in order in the second on only 12 pitches, but the game got away from him in the third.

Thirty-five pitches were thrown and the damage included Aaron Hicks' RBI single, a slider that Andújar deposited into the Orioles bullpen, a walk and a hit batter. Yacabonis was done after Shane Robinson doubled with one out in the fourth.

Gardner greeted Meisinger with a home run to right field, expanding the lead to 7-2 and leaving Yacabonis with six runs on his line. Meisinger has surrendered four homers in seven appearances.

The Yankees scored again off Meisinger in the fifth on singles by Andújar, Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit.

Renato Núñez had a two-run single off left-hander J.A. Happ in the second inning after Chris Davis walked and Tim Beckham doubled, but the lead faded fast.

Rookie Cedric Mullins provided a highlight with a leaping catch at the center field fence to rob Giancarlo Stanton of a home run and end the sixth inning. Mullins showed impressive speed to get back to the track, set himself and time his jump perfectly.

Sean Gilmartin lowered his head and took a couple of steps toward the plate after Stanton made contact, assuming that he had just surrendered a home run. Mullins couldn't save him in the eighth, when Torres led off with a home run to left field.

Hicks homered off Mike Wright Jr. in the ninth to give New York a 10-2 lead. Mullins answered with an RBI single with two outs in the bottom half to match his career high with three hits.

Núñez also equaled his career high with three hits.

Happ struck out nine batters in six innings and has won all five decisions since the Yankees traded for him.

Manager Buck Showalter on Yacabonis: "Just command. Looked like after the first inning he was going to be able to give us some length there, but he used up a lot of pitches, deep counts, really just didn't command the baseball like he has. It's a work in progress. Today wasn't a good day for him."

Showalter on how much development is getting through lineups more than once: "Yeah. He's got a live arm, obviously. He's not that experienced with starting, but he's experienced with pitching. It's still got a lot of similarities. But it's a step for him. Hopefully, he'll learn from it.

"I thought Gilmartin was real good. Gave us some needed innings. Mike, after he gave up the, I think it was a cutter, hanger, he really threw the ball well."

Showalter on whether needs fresh arm for Game 2: "Yeah, Cashner. No, I don't mean to be a smart aleck. We have (Yefry) Ramírez down there and if we have to use him, we should be OK. (Miguel) Castro, we stayed off him. We should, but who knows? We're prepared either way. I know we've talked about some possibilities. We'll see. I think it's more for me right now, where we're going to be after the second game."

Showalter on Happ: "That's what he's done for a long time. We've seen him. Real late-life fastball, works on both sides of the plate. He's a guy when you look at starting pitchers in the American League and especially the American League East, he's at 70-some percent fastballs. That's really unusual. That tells you how good a fastball he has. He elevates it a lot and goes back and forth with it.

"It's still the best pitch in baseball is a located fastball, especially the one he has. The velocity really plays up."

Showalter on difficulty for Yacabonis being 26th man: "He was here last night and he was in the locker room last night, he's done it before. It sure beats the alternative. He got an opportunity today. Last time he did well with it. He'll go back and finish up his season, because he's close to his innings for the year."

Showalter on Núñez: "Obviously, they pitch him in a lot. When he stays in and hits the ball the other way like he did. He was one of the guys that got through the high fastball from Happ today. You notice, he didn't see another one the whole day. The catcher and the pitcher know that.

"The most pleasant thing, good to see, was the great play he made glove-side. He's been playing better at third base. He had a good feed on the double play that put it in the square. Those are the two things I'll take out of the game as far as he's concerned.

Showalter on Mullins: "I always look at the reports in the minor leagues. I like to see the order of their hits. He'll be 0-for-2 or 0-for-3 and then at the end of the day he's 2-for-5 or 3-for-5. He doesn't let things snowball.

"I like seeing that description on players in the minor leagues. They strike out the first time, pop up the second time, then all of a sudden, before you know it, they've got two hits. That tells you they don't wallow around and let something snowball, so it was good to see him end up with three hits."

Mullins on catch: "I knew it had a lot of air to it. I gave myself some time to get to the wall and kind of judge whether or not I had to make a jump for it."