Orioles fall behind early (O's lose 5-4)

NEW YORK - The Orioles are 1-10 this season when their opponent scores first.

The Yankees scored first tonight.

Jacoby Ellsbury reached on an infield hit, the ball deflecting off starter Miguel Gonzalez's glove, and Brett Gardner doubled with no outs in the bottom of the first inning. Alex Rodriguez flied to center field and the Yankees grabbed a 1-0 lead.

They weren't done. Brian McCann hit a two-run homer to right field with two outs to increase the lead to 3-0. Gonzalez fell behind 3-0 in the count and launched the fourth consecutive fastball thrown to him.

Gonzalez threw 25 pitches in the first. He held the Yankees to one run over seven inning in his start last month at Camden Yards.

The Orioles almost got on the board in the top of the first when Delmon Young singled to left field with two outs, but Gardner threw out Manny Machado at the plate to end the inning. Machado led off by reaching on an infield hit.

Young is back in right field and batting cleanup after robbing Rodriguez of his 661st career home run last night with a leaping catch at the fence.

In typical fashion, Young downplayed his defensive heroics today and wondered why reporters were at his locker. He provided a few laughs before batting practice, whether he intended to or not.

"It was only a matter of time before he hit another home run," Young said.

But what about Young delaying history - at least for a few more innings?

"He hit that one even farther," Young said of Rodriguez's shot to center field in the third inning. "Almost knocked down The House that Ruth Built."

Young kept Rodriguez tied with Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list with his catch in the first inning.

"Really didn't think it was going to go over," Young said. "Thought it was going to be a sacrifice fly situation. Just wanted to get back to try to have momentum to try to throw (Brett) Gardner out at second."

Young wasn't preoccupied with Rodriguez's placement on the home run list and how he could move up against the Orioles.

"I didn't too much care about it," he said. "I knew he was eventually going to pass him this season. We just got swept at the Mets place, so we came in here trying to win a ballgame."

Young also threw out Mark Teixeira trying to stretch an RBI single into a double in the first inning last night. He's made a handful of impressive plays in right field this season after arriving in camp knowing that he'd have more chances to play the position without Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz on the roster.

"Just trying to play baseball," Young said. "You guys are trying to look for stories. We work hard every day, every year. It's not like we come out here and sit on our (butt) every day."

I cherish these rare moments with Young.

Update: Gonzalez has thrown 64 pitches in three innings and the Orioles are down 5-0.

The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs in the third and Carlos Beltran, with the count full, doubled to right-center field to score two runs. Brian McCann, walked intentionally, was thrown out at the plate.

Gonzalez has allowed five runs and five hits. His ERA has gone from 2.59 to 3.67.

Update II: The Orioles scored twice in the fifth on Manny Machado's RBI single and Young's grounder. Machado is 3-for-3.

Chris Davis struck out to leave runners on the corners.

Both starters are out of the game. Gonzalez allowed five runs and five hits in four innings, with two walks, two strikeouts and a home run. He threw 79 pitches, 49 strikes.

This is three straight games for the Orioles without a quality start after seven in a row.

Update III: The Orioles scored twice in the sixth to pull within 5-4.

Jimmy Paredes singled with the two bases loaded and two outs after J.J. Hardy doubled, Ryan Flaherty was hit by a pitch and Machado walked. Hardy collected his first hit of the season.

Update IV: The Orioles dropped their fourth game in a row, losing to the Yankees 5-4. They're now 3-6 in one-run games and 1-11 when the opponent scores first.

T.J. McFarland allowed one hit, issued an intentional walk and struck out three in three scoreless innings. He kept the Orioles in the game, but they fell to 12-15. They haven't been four games below .500 this season.