The Orioles have a tough road ahead in May as we all know. Their first stop was in the Bronx not too far away from the George Washington Bridge to face the New York Yankees.
For the Orioles, the start of the three game series against the New York Yankees — and the first few weeks of May — will be seen by many as a litmus test as to where they stand in the sport.
They had a tough test on Monday and fought; alas, they would not emerge victorious.
Although they lost 2-1 tonight against the Yankees, the Orioles played well; however, they could not get the bats going and pitcher Hiroki Kuroda – in his first start against Baltimore – stymied them.
He only allowed one run in seven innings and the New York bullpen did the rest on the evening. Mariano Rivera got the save – his fifth on the season.
Meanwhile, Jason Hammel was the hard-luck loser, as he went six innings and allowed two runs. You could say Hammel pitched a great ballgame, but his only real mistake came in the second inning. He allowed a two-run homer to Eric Chavez.
The Orioles did have a few opportunities to score – especially in the seventh inning as Nick Markakis got nailed at home after attempting to score on a wild pitch – but could not make anything come of it. They scored their only run in the second inning off a Chris Davis sacrifice fly that plated Adam Jones.
If there’s good news out of Monday’s game – Jim Johnson is healthy and pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
New York is a perfect 4-for-4 against the Orioles this season; however, all the games have been remarkably close. It’s a far cry from some of the beatings that the Yankees have given the Orioles in the past – which is a good thing.
Then again, the Orioles need some wins against their rivals.
