Paredes, De Aza going in opposite directions (O's win 6-2)

NEW YORK - Jimmy Paredes and Alejandro De Aza are providing sharp contrasts in the Orioles' lineup.

Paredes is red-hot, hitting his fifth home run of the season today in the top of the third inning to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

Paredes jumped on the first pitch from Yankees starter Chase Whitley, a 90 mph fastball, and launched it into the seats in right field. Whitley struck out four of the first six batters, including Paredes in the opening inning.

Before today, Paredes had a .328/.357/.612 slash line while earning the job as the regular designated hitter and occasional fill-in at second base. His hitting streak grew to eight games with today's home run, and he's hit safely in 15 of 17 games since coming off the disabled list.

No wonder the players in the clubhouse call him "Babe Ruth," though Jimmy "Hit" Paredes works for me.

De Aza is headed in the opposite direction. He flied out to end the second inning and has four hits in his last 34 at-bats over 11 games. He began today with a .221/.264/.368 slash line, and his 22 strikeouts were second on the club behind Chris Davis (45).

Davis walked in the second inning and homered in the fourth to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead. Davis has seven homers and 19 RBIs on the season.

Davis' shot off Whitley also came on the first pitch, an 87 mph fastball.

The Orioles are 11-4 when they score first.

Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen struck out the side in the third inning to leave his pitch count at 55. He threw 26 in the first and allowed a two-out double to Chris Young.

Update: It never fails. Write a blog entry that mentions De Aza's slump, and he hits a two-run homer in the fourth to increase the lead to 4-0.

De Aza's last homer was April 11 vs. the Blue Jays.

Update II: Manny Machado doubled in the fifth and scored on Delmon Young's single to increase the lead to 5-0.

Whitney has hit two batters today - Steve Pearce and Adam Jones.

Update III: Paredes tripled and Young doubled in the seventh to give the Orioles a 6-1 lead.

The six runs are the most scored by the Orioles since the no-fans game at Camden Yards.

Chen has thrown 90 pitches in six innings.

Update IV: Chen allowed one run and five hits in seven innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts. He threw 106 pitches, 76 for strikes.

Chen lowered his ERA to 2.52 in 35 2/3 innings. He also ended a streak of three straight games without a quality start from the Orioles' rotation.

Tommy Hunter, who hasn't been charged with a run in his last seven appearances, is working the eighth inning.

Ryan Flaherty replaced Pearce at second base and was charged with an error.

Update V: Hunter allowed an unearned run due to Flaherty's error and Carlos Beltran's two-out RBI single to center field.

Update VI: Game over, and so is the losing streak.

The Orioles halted their skid at four with today's 6-2 victory over the Yankees.

Zach Britton recorded the last two outs for his sixth save after replacing Darren O'Day with two runners on base. Machado committed his seventh error and Brian McCann delivered a pinch-hit single.

Paredes came a double short of the cycle and is batting .347.