Baltimore rookie pitcher Jake Arrieta had the difficult task of facing the New York Yankees in his major league debut.
However, Arrieta held the powerful Yankees offense in check and picked up his first big league win in the Orioles’ 4-3 win Thursday night at Camden Yards.
Baltimore ended a 10-game losing streak to New York and avoided being swept by the Yankees for the third time this season. New York finished their six-game road trip with a 3-3 record.
Arrieta (1-0), who posted a 1.85 ERA in 12 appearances at Triple-A Norfolk, allowed three runs on only four hits over six innings. All four Yankee hits were extra-base hits. He struck out six and walked four. David Hernandez pitched a scoreless ninth for his first career save.
Yankees starter A.J. Burnett (6-4), who entered the game with an 11-2 career record against Baltimore, lost his second consecutive start. In 6.2 innings, he allowed four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
Baltimore struck first in the bottom of the first inning. With runners at second and third and one out, Ty Wigginton delivered a sacrifice fly for the first run. After Luke Scott was hit by a pitch, Adam Jones’s RBI single gave Baltimore a 2-0 lead.
After one out, Robinson Cano doubled to right field. Cano finished the game 1-for-3 and is batting .489 (23-47) against Orioles pitching this season. He eventually scored on Curtis Granderson’s two-out RBI triple.
The Yankees tied the game and took the lead in the top of the third. Chad Moeller led off the inning with a walk and came around to score on Derek Jeter’s run-scoring double. Nick Swisher gave New York a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Burnett had retired 10 straight hitters going into the bottom of the fifth inning. But Scott Moore ended Burnett’s streak with a game-tying home run over the right centerfield wall.
After the Yankees left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, Baltimore reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Scott tripled with one out and scored on Jones’s RBI double to give the Orioles a 4-3 advantage.
Baltimore relievers Frank Mata, Will Ohman and Hernandez held New York hitless over the final three innings. New York was held to five hits or less for the second time in their last six games. The Yankees totaled five hits in their 6-1 loss at Toronto last Friday.
New York will return to interleague action on Friday when Houston visits Yankee Stadium.
Brett Myers (4-3, 3.01) will start for the Astros, while the Yankees will counter with Andy Pettitte (7-1, 2.47). New York is 5-1 all-time against Houston; however, the only Astros win was a combined no-hitter in an 8-0 win on June 11, 2003.
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