Gausman Pitches Eight Shutout Innings Against Yankees
BALTIMORE -- On a night when pitching dominated the game, it seemed almost fitting that the only run didn't score on a base hit.
Pedro Alvarez's 10th-inning sacrifice fly gave the Baltimore Orioles a 1-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Thursday.
The Orioles had not scored a run in the previous 21 innings -- last getting a run across during the fifth inning of a 4-1 victory over the Yankees on Tuesday -- before producing in the 10th when the left-handed-hitting Alvarez lofted the decisive fly ball off left-handed closer Andrew Miller.
"(Miller) is very tough, obviously," Alvarez said. "He's one of the most effective closers in baseball, and any time you step in there against him, it's not a comfortable (plate appearance)."
Hyun Soo Kim started the winning rally for Baltimore with a leadoff infield single against Johnny Barbato (1-2). Kim went to third when Jonathan Schoop followed with a single to left-center.
Nolan Reimold then came on to pinch-run for Kim, and the Yankees brought in Miller.
Alvarez greeted Miller with a fly ball to medium-deep center. Jacoby Ellsbury made the catch, but his throw home was off line, and Reimold easily scored for the walk-off win.
Baltimore closer Zach Britton (2-1), making his first appearance since jamming his left ankle last Saturday against the White Sox, got the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
"(Orioles manager Buck Showalter) said if we had a chance to win the game, I was going to be in there," Britton said. "I felt pretty good. Command was a little bit everywhere, but I had almost a week off, I think, so just tried to find a way."
Starting pitchers Kevin Gausman of Baltimore and Masahiro Tanaka of New York dominated much of this game.
Gausman gave the Orioles eight shutout innings. He allowed only three hits and struck out four without a walk.
The right-hander said he felt good throwing all of his pitches. He kept the Yankees off-balance by mixing them up throughout his outing.
"I think obviously my confidence is growing," said Gausman, 25. "I just feel a lot more confident at this level. Some guys get to the big leagues and already are comfortable. This is the first year I've really felt I know what I'm doing. "
Tanaka matched Gausman, also throwing eight shutout innings. He scattered five hits while striking out seven with only one walk.
The Yankees (9-17) had the best early threat as Starlin Castro led off the fourth with a double and went to third on Brian McCann's fly ball. However, they came up empty, and manager Joe Girardi was thrown out at the end of the inning, his first ejection this season.
Girardi said after the game that he felt Gausman was balking, but the umpires were not calling it.
Baltimore (16-11) twice put runners on first and second early but couldn't convert either in the third or fourth innings. The Orioles nearly won it in the ninth when Matt Wieters sent a long fly ball to right that Dustin Ackley leaped and caught just at the fence.
Ackley then doubled pinch runner Joey Rickard off first base, and the play withstood a Baltimore manager's challenge and sent the game to extra innings.
"It just kind of hung up there for a while, got a chance for me to get back to the wall and kind of know where I was," Ackley said. "(I) was able to time the jump, and luckily it was close enough for me to catch it."
The loss wrapped up a 2-7 road trip for the Yankees, who hope to fare better when they return to Yankee Stadium starting Friday night for a weekend series with the Boston Red Sox.
"It's a tough road trip; it's really very disappointing," Girardi said. "But we start a long homestand, and we've got to make up some ground."
- In:
- MLB
- Baltimore Orioles