Gausman Fell To 0-1 As Orioles Lost To Yankees
NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Rodriguez hit his 696th career homer, Ivan Nova grinded through six innings and the Yankees' bullpen trio closed up shop for the second straight game to help New York beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 on Monday night.
Nova (7-5) loaded the bases in the first inning and needed 60 pitches to get through three but allowed just a solo homer to Jonathan Schoop. He handed a 2-1 lead over to New York's bullpen troika of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman.
The No Run DMC triad, possibly in its final days with Miller and Chapman rumored to be on the trade block, covered the final three innings to extend its scoreless streak to 22 innings. The Yankees are 18-1 when all three relievers pitch in the same game.
Chapman hit 105 mph while locking down his 19th save. He retired Ryan Flaherty on a grounder with a runner on first to end it — the bouncing ball hit part of Flaherty's shattered bat in the middle of the diamond before being easily handled.
Nova hadn't thrown more than 5 1/3 innings in five starts and had a 6.93 ERA in that time. He was coming off 10 days' rest, though, and used just 37 pitches over his final three innings.
After New York failed to score in the first inning for the 22nd consecutive game, Rodriguez turned on a 2-0 fastball from Kevin Gausman for his ninth home run leading off the second.
The 40-year-old Rodriguez was making his fourth straight start coming out of the All-Star break, going 1 for 10 in the first three games. Since his last homer on June 18, he'd gone 10 for 50 with one double in 15 games.
New York got its other run against Gausman (1-7) via Brian McCann's sacrifice fly in the third. Gausman pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out six.
Gausman fell to 0-1 in three starts against New York this season despite a 1.31 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. Baltimore entered averaging five runs per game but just 3.40 in Gausman's starts. With star slugger Chris Davis out with an illness, the Orioles had just five hits in another muted performance behind Gausman.
Carlos Beltran added three hits for the Yankees to raise his average to .303. New York is 2-2 on a 10-game homestand that may determine whether it buys or sells at the Aug. 1 deadline.
Orioles left-hander Donnie Hart pitched a scoreless inning a day after getting two outs in his major league debut against Tampa Bay.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: Davis spent Sunday night at a hospital and got IV fluid. Manager Buck Showalter said his first baseman "was pretty under the weather through this morning." ... OF Hyun Soo Kim missed his fourth straight game with a strained right hamstring but said "it has gotten better" through an interpreter. The Orioles hope to decide Tuesday whether to place Kim on the disabled list. ... Reliever Darren O'Day (right hamstring) will throw a simulated game on Tuesday.
Yankees: 1B Mark Teixeira sat out a second straight game with a sore left foot. A CT scan came back negative on Sunday. Rob Refsnyder started at first. ... The Yankees reinstated OF prospect Mason Williams from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
UP NEXT
Orioles: RHP Vance Worley (2-0, 2.87) makes his first start since moving to the bullpen following two starts in April. He has a 2.23 ERA in 18 games as a reliever, and Baltimore is hoping that success translates and bolsters one of the worst rotations in the AL.
Yankees: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7-6, 5.11) returns to the rotation after making three appearances in the bullpen. He pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings as a reliever.
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