Some big nights on farm, but O's fall big to Yankees

As it turned out, right-hander Jórge Lopez might have broken through that fifth-inning barrier and had a strong outing in his previous game versus the Boston Red Sox, but he could not build on that last night.

López got an early exit, the Orioles fell into an early deficit and they added another loss against the New York Yankees.

The Yankees led 5-0 after two innings and beat the Orioles 8-2 at Camden Yards as López had a rough night, one where he gave up six hits and five runs (four earned) over two innings. He loaded the bases with no outs to begin the game and all three runners scored. In his first seven starts of the year, he had an ERA of 0.00 in the first inning with no walks and seven strikeouts. Last night, he walked two of the first three batters.

The Orioles were 15-16 and heading home after John Means' no-hitter at Seattle. But they have one win since that game, falling to 16-23. They went from a pace to finish 78-84 to one to finish 66-96.

During a four-game losing streak, they have been outscored 23-9 and in losing seven of eight they have been outscored by 45-24. The Orioles have scored just 21 runs in nine games versus the Yankees, going 3-6.

The Orioles fall to 5-15 at home and to 4-9 in May with Saturday's loss.

There was better news on the farm: Two of the Orioles' top prospects, pitcher Grayson Rodriguez and infielder Gunnar Henderson, had big nights as O's clubs went 3-1 again last night. Their four full-season teams are a combined 27-16 (.628).

Rodriguez allowed three hits and one run over five innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts as high Single-A Aberdeen beat Hudson Valley 8-1. Rodriguez, now 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA, threw 67 pitches. On the year in three games, he has allowed eight hits in 12 1/3 innings with four walks, 23 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.97. Slumping infielder Adam Hall hit a three-run homer, went 2-for-4 and is batting .156.

Double-A Bowie beat Reading 7-5. Catcher Adley Rutschman's two-run double in the seventh provided a 6-5 lead for the Baysox, who are now 8-2. Terrin Vavra went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and is hitting .367. Bowie has won five in a row in this series, scoring 42 runs, and goes for a six-game sweep today.

Low Single-A Delmarva beat Fredericksburg 13-2 last night, improving to 8-3 while dropping the winless Nats to 0-11. Henderson went 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs and he leads the league with 16 RBIs. He is batting .341 with four doubles and three homers to go with an OPS of 1.063. Henderson is 10-for-23 his last five games with 13 RBIs. Right-hander Mike Baumann made a rehab assignment start and threw two scoreless innings, although he did walk three, throwing 37 pitches.

Triple-A Norfolk falls to 3-8 and lost at Charlotte 8-3. Brett Cumberland had two hits and is batting .324. But lefty Alexander Wells gave up six runs (four earned) in 3 2/3 and is 0-2 with an ERA of 14.29.