O's come up short on bid to sweep, lose 5-2 to Yankees

After back-to-back shutouts of the Yankees in this series and three straight games dating to last weekend, today the Orioles' pitching didn't measure up. On top of that, the Orioles went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position the first six innings.

The O's fell behind 3-0 in the first inning today and never could catch up in a 5-2 loss to the Yankees. They fall to 74-62 and now head to St. Petersburg to play the Rays to start an important nine-game road trip. The Blue Jays won this afternoon, so the O's fall three games out of first place in the division race.

O's starter Wade Miley walked the first two batters he faced this afternoon and both scored in the opening inning, even though he struck out the side in a 36-pitch frame. Chase Headley's two-out single made it 1-0. Austin Romine followed with a ground ball on the left side that made it through for a two-run single and 3-0 lead. New York made it 4-0 in the third on Headley's RBI infield hit.

An O's rally in the fourth started when Michael Pineda walked Mark Trumbo, who went to third on a Chris Davis single. He scored on a Steve Pearce groundout.

The O's cut the New York lead to 4-2 in the fifth. Adam Jones led off with a single and scored on a Pedro Alvarez double against the shift down the left-field line. The Orioles would load the bases with one out, but reliever Luis Severino fanned Pearce and Matt Wieters grounded out as another big chance went mostly unfulfilled. The Orioles left five runners on base over the fourth and fifth innings. They have scored three runs or fewer in 26 of 49 games in the second half, going 4-22 in those games.

New York added an insurance run in the ninth for the final margin. Trumbo made a two-base error on Tyler Austin's fly ball. Austin later scored on a Brett Gardner sac fly.

The Orioles are 45-25 at home, 30-26 versus the American League East, 8-8 against New York and 23-26 since the All-Star break.

On Monday afternoon at Tropicana Field, right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (5-11, 6.46 ERA) pitches against right-hander Matt Andriese (6-6, 4.19 ERA).