Yankees 2, Orioles 6: Long ball dooms Whitley

The New York Yankees dropped the third game of a four game set to the Baltimore Orioles today afternoon, by a score of six to two.

Chase Whitley looked in-control early, striking out the side in the first inning and getting five of the first eight outs via strikeout. Baltimore got to him with long balls to the short porch though, starting with Jimmy Paredes hitting a line drive solo shot in the third inning. Chris Davis hit his own line drive solo home run in the fourth inning, before Alejandro De Aza made it 4-0 with a two-run homerun, also to right field. The Orioles tacked on a fifth run after Manny Machado lead off the fifth inning with a double, then came around to score on a Delmon Young single.

Whitley pitched 5 and 2/3rds innings on the day, giving up the five runs on five hits and two walks. He did have 5 strikeouts, and generated 13 swings-and-misses. It wasn't quite his night, but he did manage to settle down a little after the long balls and stay out for a few more outs, helping to spare a tired Yankee bullpen. Birthday boy Chase Headley helped him out all day, making one great defensive play after another.

David Carpenter came in to relieve Whitley, getting the final out in the sixth inning then giving up a run in the seventh on a Paredes triple and Young double. Chasen Shreve came on to pitch scoreless eighth and ninth innings.

In the meantime, Wei-Yin Chen was cruising through the first four innings before the bottom of the lineup broke the shutout in the fifth. Headley got started with a one out single, Stephen Drew moved him to third with a double to right, and John Ryan Murphy brought Headley home on a sacrifice fly. Just the one run, though, and Chen promptly went back to dominating the Yankees for the sixth and seventh innings.

Tommy Hunter came on in relief of Chen in the eighth; surrendering a run on a Carlos Beltran single up the middle which drove in Jacoby Ellsbury who had reached on an error and advanced on a Brett Gardner single. Darren O`Day came on to pitch the ninth, as Drew reached on a one out Machado throwing error and pinch-hitter Brian McCann singled against the shift to turn it into a save situation; bringing in Zach Britton. The Yankees came no closer than that though, as Britton closed out an Orioles win.

Not the ideal result, but the Yankees remain in first place with 19 wins and 12 losses, and still hold a 2-1 lead in the series. Michael Pineda heads to the mound tomorrow to clinch the series and get New York its 20th win of the year. The Orioles counter with Bud Norris, and first pitch will be at 1:05 Eastern.