Orioles 5, Yankees 0
NEW YORK -- Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta fired eight scoreless innings, leading Baltimore to a 5-0 win over the Yankees on Wednesday that ended New York right-hander Ivan Nova's streak of 20 undefeated starts.
The rubber match of the three-game series matched two 6-foot-4 starters connected by memorable respective days of June past.
New York's Ivan Nova hadn't lost a start since June 10, 2011. Baltimore's Jake Arrieta won his major league debut against the Yankees precisely a year earlier, on June 10, 2010.
When this chilly early May night was over, though, the Orioles had an impressive win, and Nova had a rare loss.
Early in the game, the Orioles had trouble breaking through against Nova, stranding eight baserunners in the first six innings while scratching out only two runs. But in the seventh, they finally brought Super Nova back to earth with a game-breaking, three-run rally before 39,360 at Yankee Stadium.
Matt Wieters had two RBI and three hits, including his seventh home run. Nick Markakis added a solo shot (his third), Robert Andino had three singles and drove in a run, and Nick Johnson contributed two hits and another RBI.
Deftly mixing fastballs, changeups and a sweeping curve, Arrieta (2-2) allowed only five singles, two of them by Alex Rodriguez. He didn't walk a batter, and he struck out nine. Arrieta threw 111 pitches, 76 for strikes.
Baltimore closer Jim Johnson worked a perfect ninth in his second appearance since being hospitalized last week due to food poisoning.
For much of the night, the O's were looking for big innings that didn't quite materialize. They opened the scoring in the fourth, as Wieters led off with a home run to right. With one out, Johnson doubled, and after Mark Reynolds struck out, Andino reached on an infield hit, sending Johnson to third. However, Endy Chavez popped out to limit the damage to one run.
Baltimore broke through with another lone run in the sixth. Chris Davis led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and took third on a ground out by Johnson. Reynolds walked, and Andino got an infield hit to score Davis. Chavez lined into double play, though, to end the inning.
Nova (3-1) had also pitched out of trouble in the first. A single by J.J. Hardy and a double to left by Markakis put runners on second and third with one out. They held as Robinson Cano made a nice catch on a pop to short right by Adam Jones, and after Wieters walked to load the bases, Nova fanned Davis to escape unscathed.
It marked the ninth consecutive regular-season start in which Nova had not allowed any first-inning runs.
NOTES: The Orioles announced starter Tsuyoshi Wada, injured during spring training, has been scheduled for Tommy John surgery on his left elbow May 11 in Los Angeles, to be performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum. "I try to look at it as positive as can be," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of the Japanese All-Star who signed as a free agent in January. "We identified the problem, and we can proceed. Fortunately, we can get it taken care of and he'll be ready next year." ... Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher, out since Sunday with a sore hamstring, still has not run or swung a bat, but he remains listed as day-to-day. "We're just not comfortable putting him on DL, and losing him for that long," Girardi said. ... New York left fielder Brett Gardner, due to come off the DL on Thursday, will not be immediately activated, but he will travel with the team for the road trip to Kansas City. "He still has a bit of pain from the bone bruise, so we're giving him a few days of complete rest. We'll see how is on Friday," Girardi said.
