New York Yankees beat Baltimore Orioles 6-4 in 10 innings for sweep

By David Ginsburg

Associated Press

Published: Wednesday, April 11 2012 10:20 p.m. MDT

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Jake Arrieta throws to the New York Yankees in the first inning of a baseball game in Baltimore, Wednesday, April 11, 2012.

Patrick Semansky, Associated Press

BALTIMORE — A bloop here, a missed opportunity there.

That's what prevented the Baltimore Orioles from winning the final two games of their series against the New York Yankees.

Instead, the Orioles lost both times on the back end of a numbing three-game sweep.

Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer in the 10th, and the Yankees earned their second straight extra-inning win at Baltimore, 6-4 on Wednesday night.

The loss left the Orioles at 3-3 after a season-opening, three-game sweep of Minnesota.

"Different competition. We played three good games. Just didn't come out on top," said Adam Jones, who struck out with two down and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.

One night earlier, Baltimore went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position in a 12-inning loss.

Asked if the two straight defeats were tough to take, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said: "Initially yes. But the one good thing about our sport is there's always an opportunity to feel better very quickly. You don't have to sit on it very long. It's something that we're going to learn from and we're going to get better. I like what I'm seeing."

Curtis Granderson homered and drove in three runs for the Yankees, who won consecutive extra-inning road games for the first time since July 16-17, 2001, at Philadelphia, according to STATS LLC.

With two outs in the 10th, Mark Teixeira hit an opposite-field bloop off Kevin Gregg (0-1) that landed just inside the left-field line and between third baseman Mark Reynolds and left fielder Nolan Reimold.

Swisher then worked the count full before hitting a no-doubt drive into the center-field bleachers.

"The ball just slipped out of my hand," Gregg said. "I left it over the plate and he didn't miss it."

Rafael Soriano (1-0) worked 1 1-3 innings of one-hit relief and 42-year-old Mariano Rivera got three outs for his second save of the season and No. 605 of his career.

New York starter CC Sabathia gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings, striking out eight and walking two. The left-hander won his previous seven starts at Camden Yards, and although that streak ended, he retained his 16-2 record against Baltimore.

Sabathia took a beating on the mound in a fashion that had nothing to do with his pitching line. He was smacked in his left hand trying to catch a bouncer up in the middle in the second inning and had a line drive hit his left foot in the fifth.

Robert Andino and Reynolds had two RBIs apiece for the Orioles, and starter Jake Arrieta allowed four runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Reynolds hit a two-out, two-run double in the fifth inning to give Baltimore a 4-3 lead. Although he walked twice earlier, Reynolds was 0 for 6 with three strikeouts against Sabathia.

New York pulled even in the seventh. After Showalter lifted Arrieta with a runner on first, Luis Ayala promptly walked Derek Jeter on five pitches, and Granderson bounced an RBI single into left field.

The Yankees put runners at second and third with two outs in the eighth before Ayala struck out Russell Martin.

After throwing seven shutout innings against Minnesota on opening day, Arrieta's perfect ERA vanished when Jeter led off with a double and Granderson followed with his first home run, which also provided him with his first two RBIs.

Arrieta retired the next 11 batters before Teixeira singled with two outs in the fourth.

Get The Deseret News Everywhere

Subscribe

Mobile

RSS