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 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.
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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."
NOTES: Orioles SS Manny Machado went 2-for-4 in Wednesday's loss to
the Yankees. That was his 13th multi-hit game this year -- the most
in the American League and tied for first place in the majors. He
finished 0-for-4 Wednesday. ... INF/OF Jimmy Paredes continues his
rehab assignment with Double-A Bowie. Manager Buck Showalter hopes
that Paredes' offensive production can improve -- he had a .192
average through Wednesday -- on the minor league assignment, which
could go until May 15. ... LF Brett Gardner was held out of New
York's starting lineup after getting hit on the right arm in
Wednesday's game and then coming out. His arm is sore, but Gardner's
X-rays were negative. He appeared as a pinch runner Wednesday. ...
The Yankees called up OF Ben Gamel from Triple-A
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and sent down LHP James Pazos. Pazos was
called up Wednesday after DH Alex Rodriguez was placed on the
disabled list. Manager Joe Girardi said the Yankees could have been
down to two on the bench if Gardner could not swing well, and they
did not want that.
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