Showalter speaks after 6-0 loss

TAMPA - Rule 5 pick Michael Almanzar walked to lead off the top of the ninth today and would have scored on Dariel Alvarez's two-out double if the ball hadn't hopped the left field fence. Mike Yastrzemski struck out to complete the Orioles' 6-0 loss to the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Manager Buck Showalter offered up his opinion on a few players, including starter Bud Norris, who allowed three runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings. "He was OK," Showalter said. "A little off on his command. I think we've gotten like nine outs (actually 11) in the last two games from our starters. Hopefully, that will pick up a little bit." Norris allowed a third run to score on his throwing error. "Yeah, he kind of hurried," Showalter said. "He didn't have a good grip on the ball. It kind of rolled up his arm. He's one of our better fielding pitchers and I know that was frustrating for him. He could have gotten out of there with one or two runs in his outing. "He ended up with 60 pitches in his outing, obviously more than we wanted him to throw. He was just missing, had some borderline pitches that didn't go his way, but that happens during the season, too. He's better than that." Here's more of the roll call: On Kevin Gausman: "I thought he pitched pretty well. He's fine." On Brad Brach: "Brach continues very quietly to have a good spring." On Josh Stinson: "Josh has kind of picked up where he left off last season." On Henry Urrutia: "Henry Urrutia's swinging the bat well, but he's made two or three baserunning mistakes that you can't make at this level." On Steve Pearce: "Steve Pearce has been locked in since the day he got here. He's squaring up everything. Not always a fair game. He probably had a couple home runs today if the wind's not blowing." On Ryan Flaherty: "He's a good defender wherever you put him. I'll tell you what he's really done is he's established himself as an option at shortstop, too, over the last couple of years. Hopefully, we get Manny (Machado) back and it won't be something we have to worry about." The Red Sox will start Jon Lester, John Lackey and Felix Doubront in the season-opening series against the Orioles at Camden Yards. Showalter hasn't named his opening day starter, but may do so in the next few days. Chris Tillman is expected to get the assignment.