Orioles 5 - 6 Yankees
Final/10
  for this game

Yanks rally to down Baltimore in extras

Apr 15, 2011 - 6:48 AM

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Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Jorge Posada hit the game-tying homer in the ninth, and Nick Swisher's sacrifice fly in the 10th lifted the Yankees to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Orioles.

Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a run batted in for the Yankees, who took both games in this abbreviated series. Originally a three- game set, Tuesday's opener was rained out.

"That pie was great. It doesn't get any better than that pie," Swisher said. "It just seemed like the sun came out today and so did the fans."

Mariano Rivera (1-0) pitched a scoreless top of the 10th to record the win and cap New York's strong bullpen performance.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes struggled in 4 1/3 innings, during which he allowed five runs on seven hits. But Bartolo Colon relieved him and tossed three shutout frames before Joba Chamberlain held the Orioles scoreless for 1 2/3.

Jake Arrieta turned in a solid start for Baltimore, giving up three runs in six innings. But the bullpen couldn't maintain the lead as the Orioles lost for the fourth straight time. Mike Gonzalez (0-1) gave up the decisive run.

"There's no self pity," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "It's a tough, competitive place in the American League East."

Hughes got through two innings without incident, but the Orioles broke through in the third.

Cesar Izturis singled with one away and two batters later, Nick Markakis smacked a two-run homer to right. Luke Scott began the fourth with a double and later scored on Mark Reynolds' sac fly to make it a 3-0 game.

Then, Izturis began the fifth with a bunt single, moved to second on a throwing error by catcher Russell Martin, and advanced to third on a fly out. Markakis got him home with a double that chased Hughes from the game.

Markakis later scored on Vladimir Guerrero's single off Colon, pushing Baltimore's advantage to 5-0.

But the Yankees started to come back in the home half, which Rodriguez and Robinson Cano opened with consecutive doubles to get New York on the board.

The Yankees had two on with one out in the sixth, setting the table for the heart of their order. Mark Teixeira doubled in a run before Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly, pulling New York within 5-3.

Martin's run-scoring groundout in the seventh off Jason Berken then pulled the Bombers within a run.

New York still faced that deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth against Kevin Gregg, and Posada instantly erased it with a leadoff homer. It was his fifth homer of the season and his seventh hit.

Curtis Granderson followed with a double that popped out of the glove of a diving Markakis in right, but Gregg got out of the inning to send the game to extras.

After Rivera got a double play to keep Baltimore off the scoreboard in the top of the 10th, the Yankees rallied once more. Teixeira worked a leadoff walk before advancing to third on a Rodriguez double. Cano then lined out to short, but Swisher lofted a fly ball deep enough to right to allow Teixeira to cross the plate.

Game Notes

Markakis went 3-for-5 and scored twice for the Orioles, while Guerrero finished with two hits...Despite the victory, the Yankees were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position...The Yankees recorded their third come-from- behind win of the season, and their largest since August 11, 2010 at Texas. They trailed 6-1 after five innings in that contest.






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