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Tillman Roughed Up In Orioles' 7-4 Loss To Yankees

NEW YORK (AP) -- Chris Tillman thought it was going to be a real special night the way he was warming up.

Then he had to face the New York Yankees.

Tillman was roughed up for six runs in less than two innings, and Baltimore could never make up the early deficit against A.J. Burnett and the Yankees on Wednesday night, losing 7-4.

"It's real disappointing," Tillman said. "Coming out of the bullpen, I felt real good. I thought I had good stuff. It came down to making that one pitch when you're ahead in the count. ... I'd try to put them away and I missed every time."

Tillman (0-1) gave up four straight hits to start the first inning. Mark Teixeira snapped an 0-for-18 slide with a single and Alex Rodriguez lined a drive over the wall in right field for his 617th career home run and a 3-0 lead.

In the second, Derek Jeter drove in a run with a high chopper that went for an infield hit. Rodriguez walked and Robinson Cano followed with a bases-loaded double that ended Tillman's night after 1 2-3 innings. He allowed nine hits.

"It's tough to come back from the deficit we got ourselves in there," Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters said. "We were a couple of pitches away from being a little better than 6-0 but a little behind early in the count and you can't get behind in the count and have to come in there with a fastball that they know is coming."

The Yankees could've had more but center fielder Adam Jones made a spectacular diving catch, sliding on his stomach along the wet grass to grab Posada's short fly to end the inning with the bases loaded.

Wieters and Brian Roberts each hit two-run homers in the seventh to make things interesting. Roberts' one-out drive into the Yankees' bullpen in right-center ended the night for Burnett (3-0).

"Matty looks real hitter-ish up there up there right now," manager Buck Showalter said of Wieters, who came in hitting .192 but was 2 for 3.

Jorge Posada homered as New York move into a tie atop the AL East with the Orioles. Baltimore lost its third in a row on a misty, 48-degree night.

Jeter matched Barry Bonds for 32nd on the all-time hits list with 2,935 on the day the former slugger was convicted in a San Francisco courtroom of obstruction of justice. Jeter had two singles. He has more hits (293) against the Orioles than any other team.

The Yankees had to wait a while to play again after being two-hit by Boston's Josh Beckett on Sunday night — New York was off Monday, and Tuesday night's game was rained out.

Burnett was dominant for six innings, working the corners of the plate with his fastball and making the Orioles chase a biting curveball that often hit the dirt. He gave up a leadoff hit to Roberts, doubles to Mark Reynolds and Wieters, and a single to Vladimir Guerrero.

"He threw the ball extremely well. He was flawless for six innings, Rodriguez said.

In the seventh, he gave up a one-out double to Reynolds before Wieters connected for his first homer of the season. Robert Andino walked, then Roberts homered to make it 7-4, and David Robertson took over.

Burnett allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked two, threw three wild pitches and struck out five. The right-hander improved to 8-0 in 13 starts with New York in April since becoming a Yankee in 2009. He also improved to 12-4 against Baltimore.

"He had a good changeup. He threw a lot of them," Showalter said. "We were able to get him to 50 pitches in about two innings or so but we couldn't hold the tide and couldn't get back in the ballgame."

Rafael Soriano gave up a hit in the eighth and Mariano Rivera was perfect in the ninth for his fifth save.

Posada ended an 0-for-19 skid in the fifth with a drive into the stands down the right-field line.

On a milestone night, Rodriguez passed Ken Griffey Jr. and tied Al Simmons and Ted Williams for 11th place all-time with 1,839 RBIs.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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