Yankees fall to Orioles 3-2 in 10 innings

DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) — The New York Yankees came to Camden Yards looking to make up some ground on the AL East leaders.

That might still happen, although the task became a bit tougher after a 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in 10 innings on Friday night.

Manny Machado led off the 10th with a double off Adam Warren (1-5), who rebounded to strike out Ryan Flaherty before Nick Hundley lined a game-winning single to left-center.

New York wasted a solid pitching effort by Hiroki Kuroda, who allowed three hits in seven innings but hit two batters and threw three wild pitches.

“It was a big game today, and I wanted to go out there and perform well,” Kuroda said through an interpreter.

The defeat dropped third-place New York five games behind Baltimore. The teams play again Saturday and Sunday before heading into the All-Star break.

“They’re all hard,” manager Joe Girardi said. “You’re playing Baltimore. Obviously they’re in first place, and you don’t want to lose a game like that. But you just want to come out and win tomorrow.”

That’s about what Warren had to say after yielding Hundley’s single.

“We’re trying to gain games on these guys, and it just didn’t go our way tonight,” he said. “We’ll just come back tomorrow and try and get one back.”

Machado began the game-winning uprising with a liner into the right-field corner, and Hundley hit an off-speed pitch into left-center that enabled Machado to score easily.

“I’m thinking strikeout there,” Warren said. “I threw two good sliders to him and got swings and misses. I was just trying to overthrow the last one and just left it up in the zone a little bit.”

Playing as a visitor at Camden Yards for the first time, Yankees second baseman Brian Roberts homered on the first pitch he saw. Roberts spent his first 13 seasons with the Orioles before signing as a free agent with New York in January.

Kelly Johnson also hit a solo shot for the Yankees, who entered with a major league-best 27-17 record in games decided by two runs or fewer. Now, however, they are only 5-5 in extra innings compared to 9-3 for Baltimore.

Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez allowed two runs and six hits over eight innings. After giving up a fourth-inning double to Ichiro Suzuki, the right-hander retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.

Gonzalez struck out five and walked none. The eight innings matched his career high, set three times previously, including his last start against Boston.

Roberts’ fifth homer put the Yankees up 1-0, and Johnson connected leading off the third.

A single by Brian McCann and Suzuki’s second double of the game put runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, but Gonzalez worked out of the jam.

Baltimore took advantage of a wild spell by Kuroda to tie it at 2 in the bottom half. The right-hander hit two batters — doubling his total for the season — and threw two wild pitches, the first of which allowed a run to score.

“Looking back, obviously that inning was a (big) moment in the game,” Kuroda said.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said, “We were fortunate there to push a couple across. We got a little help.”

Gonzalez, meanwhile, got 10 straight outs before hitting Johnson with a pitch in the seventh with two outs.

NOTES: The Orioles placed RHP Ubaldo Jimenez on the 15-day DL with a sprained right ankle, an injury he sustained in the parking lot of his apartment complex. Jimenez was supposed to start Saturday and will be replaced by either Chris Tillman or Kevin Gausman. Shane Greene will pitch for New York. … Britton has 23 consecutive scoreless appearances at home. … Yankees RHP Dellin Betances struck out three to increase his total to 84, most among big league relievers.