Yankees 3 - 2 Orioles
Final
  for this game

O's try to trim magic number against Yanks

Sep 13, 2014 - 11:55 AM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Baltimore Orioles are headed toward an American League East title and the recent play of Miguel Gonzalez is a big reason why.

The right-hander goes after his fourth straight win on Saturday when the Orioles continue their four-game set with the New York Yankees at Camden Yards,

Gonzalez tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings to beat the Boston Red Sox on Monday to improve to 9-7, while lowering his ERA to 3.22. He had tossed a four-hit shutout in his previous start and has allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his last 10 appearances.

"Any time he has the type of outing he had last time, you are wondering how he is going to respond the next time out, but I think he answered those questions pretty well," O's manager Buck Showalter said of Gonzalez, who exited after a trio of singles in the seventh. "Miggy is attacking the strike zone with a lot of different pitches. And really pitching confident because he's got command of three pitches."

In nine starts versus the Yankees Gonzalez is 2-2 with a 3.81 ERA.

Baltimore trimmed its magic number for clinching the division to five on Friday with a doubleheader sweep of the Yankees. The O's rallied for a 2-1, 11-inning win in game one before rolling to a 5-0 triumph in the nightcap.

Bud Norris (13-8) struck out 10 and limited New York's sputtering offense to three singles and a pair of walks in the second game to follow up a similarly outstanding effort from Kevin Gausman in the opener.

Baltimore has now won six in a row to move 11 1/2 games up in the division.

"It's hard to win when you only score one run in 18 innings," a frustrated Yankees manager Joe Girardi said afterward. "I thought we had a pretty decent shot to win the first game when we scored the one run (in the top of the 11th), but tonight we didn't do anything off of (Bud) Norris."

The Yankees have been shut out three times while losing five of eight.

All the news was not great for the O's on Friday, as they learned slugger Chris Davis would be suspended for 25 games for testing positive for an amphetamine. After leading the league with 53 home runs a year ago, Davis has only hit 26 this season for a Baltimore team that leads the majors with 192 homers.

Should the Orioles play more than eight postseason games, Davis will again be eligible.

"First of all, we got to get to the postseason," said Showalter. "Our goal right now is to get there. It just means we will be without him for the rest of the regular season.

"You have to learn to deal with the problems and challenges along the way," he added. "If they are self-inflicted, there is no woe is me. And this is self-inflicted."

Getting the call for the Yanks on Saturday will be righty Shane Greene, who has lost his last two starts and is 4-3 on the year with a 3.57 ERA. Greene absorbed the loss on Sunday versus Kansas City without giving up an earned run, as the Royals took advantage of two errors to push two across the plate on him.

Greene tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings to beat the O's in his only other appearance against them back on July 12.

Baltimore is 10-3 versus the Yankees this season.






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