Updating the rotation and wrapping up 9-1 loss

The Orioles are making more adjustments to their rotation for the upcoming series in Cleveland.

Manager Buck Showalter confirmed that Gabriel Ynoa will start Saturday afternoon's game against the Indians, with Jeremy Hellickson closing out the series on Sunday night. Left-hander Wade Miley already was the listed starter for Friday night.

Ubaldo Jiménez will start Monday night in Toronto, with Dylan Bundy expected to pitch Wednesday night in the series finale. The rest of the rotation is unclear.

Ynoa will make his first career start for the Orioles after five relief appearances and his first start since Oct. 2, 2016 with the Mets. He's 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA for the Orioles, most recently giving them two scoreless innings Monday night against the Yankees.

Chris Tillman will go to the bullpen again. He had some soreness in his right wrist, a small spot on the side that subsided. Tillman played catch, felt fine and is available to pitch.

It's hard to keep track with all the movement, but Tillman's next turn would have been Saturday.

The Orioles went 6-4 on the homestand and 12-7 in their past 19 games at Camden Yards. They suffered a 9-1 loss today to the Yankees that denied them an important series.

"We have three weeks left," said center fielder Adam Jones. "We have how many games per se, 22 roughly? We're within three or four games. I think we have a pretty good shot. We had a 6-4 homestand. Could we have went 7-3, 8-2? Coulda, coulda, coulda. But we're 6-4. We could have went 4-6.

"Everybody's always complaining about something. We're in a position to do some damage. We just have to maintain what we were doing. Running off that seven-game winning streak and basically a nine, 10 out of the last 13 or 14. That's exactly what we ask for.

"What we have to do is do what we did last year, which is going to be tough. It's a three-city tour and three teams that are still fighting. Obviously, Cleveland's playing tremendous. Toronto's always going to be competitive, especially when we play them, and then we go back to New York. To say this isn't the biggest road trip of the season is a lie. This is by far the biggest road trip of the season and we've just got to go tomorrow, have good BP, have good meetings and start with that first inning tomorrow with (Mike) Clevinger."

We've reached the point where every homestand and road trip is deemed critical.

"That's the beauty of it, that's the beauty," Jones said. "If you're fighting for something after the All-Star break, if you're fighting for a playoff spot, every game is big. I've been here five years before when you played 162 games and all 162 games meant nothing. Just go out there and give it your all. Well, we've got 20-some games left. Let's see how interesting we can make it."

The rotation needs to step up after totaling 13 1/3 innings in the last four games. Kevin Gausman was gone after three today, allowing five runs and five hits with three walks.

"It happens," Jones said. "That's a lineup that makes you work, so it happens. Move on. Worry about the next day. Everybody's going to give up hits. It happens."

Gausman threw 36 pitches in the first inning and 79 in three innings. Aaron Judge hit a long two-run homer to center field with two outs in the first to increase the lead to 3-0.

"I threw a lot of good pitches early on, but they kind of battled, fouled off a lot of good pitches and obviously left a pitch up to Judge. But overall just wasn't throwing enough strikes," Gausman said.

"Tried to go deep into the game, especially (because) this was a pretty important game for us. I'm pretty mad at myself for just kind of going out and throwing 80-some pitches in three innings and getting out of there. That's something I've got to be better at.

The Orioles didn't consider walking Judge with first base open after Didi Gregorius' RBI double.

"I think if I make two good pitches right there, or even just one of them, that's probably a ground ball if it stays down," Gausman said.

The Orioles now must face an Indians team that's won 14 in a row. They were hoping to carry a series win to Progressive Field, but lost two of three to the Yankees.

"Yeah, that's tough," Gausman said, "but we're going to Cleveland and playing a really good team in Cleveland, too, so we've just kind of got to forget about this. There's still a lot of games left and we just have to control what we can control and go out there and go on to Cleveland and try to get them to lose."

Somebody has to do it.

Here's more following the loss:

Manager Buck Showalter on Gausman: "I wouldn't say he didn't have it. He gave up a couple broken-bat singles. We talk a lot about winning the first inning. It doesn't mean you score three runs and they don't. That first inning put a semi-negative feel on it. I think he had around 11 or 12 foul balls in the first inning. (Brett) Gardner had a bit at-bat there. There are a bunch of outs after that, but unless he could catch up an inning or two it was going to be a challenge to him.

"The first at-bat of the game, that's the difference between the major leagues and Triple-A is you make really good pitches and they tip them off and then you get two or three, in his case four pitches that could have been strikes. I thought Kevin's stuff was pretty good. He struck out three guys in the first inning. It wasn't his day."

Showalter on Judge's home run: "I think he was trying to make a lot better pitch than he did. That's exactly where he didn't want to throw it. He's had his struggles, he's been a guy a lot of people have been trying to pitch to for about a month. You've got to keep that in mind. But you wonder sometimes ...

"You make mistakes with those guys and then you see an eight or nine-hole hitter and they're painting the black. It's the anxiety of the power brings some pitchers to make mistakes. Later in the game, we get the ball where we're supposed to get it. That two-run homer certainly didn't beat us."

Showalter on whether 12-7 stretch got the Orioles where they need to be: "Obviously, the opposition will have something to say about that. You're playing one of, if not the best team in the American League the next three days and going into Toronto, a good club at home, then back to New York.

"It's there for us. It's still there for us. We're going to have to have a little help, because if you won every game you play, somebody's got to lose. So, you control some things, but you don't. We've stayed engaged in the competition. I still think it's going to be there for us, but it's going to be hard."

Showalter on losing four of seven since the seven-game winning streak: "We don't live in that negative world with those type of approaches and mentality. We can't or this game will eat you up. The Yankees are a pretty good team, and they've added pieces like Sonny Gray and (Todd) Frazier and (David) Robertson, so they've gotten even better. So, like I've said before, the competition is ourselves as much as anything.

"We won those seven games you're talking about in a row. We've gotten some quality starting pitching and when we didn't, a couple of those games we were able to make up for it in other areas, so that's going to have to get better. We'll see."

Showalter on Gausman not handling Yankees well: "I don't know if he didn't handle it well. His stuff was fine. He made a lot of good pitches and when he did make a good pitch, they stuck it in somewhere or they fouled them off. He made a lot of pitches and you get credit for a foul ball. That's part of pitching up here. Just couldn't quite put them away. He made a couple of pitches that could have been strike three, but weren't. The stolen base is strike three, and it goes from there.

"His pitch count was too high in three innings for me to continue with him. He had a tough time. I know it won't read well statistically, but I'm not going to sit here and throw Kevin's outing under the bus. We didn't do much offensively, and the credit goes to Sonny Gray. They're running some big arms out of there.'

On Austin Hays: "As advertised. He's up there slashing and I think we got him four-flat down the line on a jailbreak time, so it's a good start for him. I was watching him in the outfield, just watching move around. There's familiarity. He seemed to handle the emotion of this first at-bat well. That's a (guy) throwing 97 out of the shadows. I thought he presented himself well."

Hays on first major league at-bat: "It was very surreal to be able to step in a big league box for the first time. That's better than I ever could have imagined. I wish the circumstances would have been different and could have gotten a W today."

Hays on overcoming nervousness: "Yeah. I was just getting in the box, it was a pitcher with a ball and I had a bat. Just keep it simple and see who comes out on top."

Hays on hitting in the shadows: "It wasn't too bad. It wasn't as bad as what it looked from the dugout."

Hays on thinking he had a chance to play with lopsided score: "I was just keeping my legs loose and staying ready for anything."

Hays on playing right field: "It was awesome. Being able to look in and realize where I was standing, it was great."