Sports: A-Rod, Teixeira homer as Yankees top Orioles, 4-3
A-Rod, Teixeira homer, back Nova in 4-3 victory over Orioles
New York — Alex Rodriguez hit the 20th homer of his renaissance season, Mark Teixeira connected for an early two-run shot and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3Wednesday night.
Ivan Nova (2-3) ended the first threestart losing streak of his career, and the AL East leaders won for the eighth time in 10 games.
Dellin Betances struck out two in a perfect eighth, and New York pitchers retired 14 in a row before Andrew Miller gave up a solo homer to Chris Davis with two outs in the ninth. Miller then struck out Jonathan Schoop for his 22nd save in 22 tries.
Ryan Flaherty also homered for the Orioles, who have dropped 11 of 15.
Before the game, vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said the Orioles (46- 47) will be buyers as the July 31 trade deadline approaches.
"We're still in there. We're still competing," he said. "I think we need pitching and we need more production from our outfield."
With Duquette watching from the press box behind home plate, Kevin Gausman (12) flashed a 98 mph fastball in his return from the minors but ran into immediate trouble.
The 24-year-old righty, drafted fourth overall out of LSU in 2012, gave up Jacoby Ellsbury's leadoff double on his fourth pitch. Brett Gardner hit an RBI single, and Teixeira sent his 24th home run to the short porch in right near the 314-foot sign.
At that point, Gausman had thrown 12 of 13 pitches for strikes and trailed 3-0. He is 0-5 in his last 11 major league starts.
Flaherty hit a two-run shot in the third, but Rodriguez — five days shy of his 40th birthday — launched a fifth-inning drive that soared over the Baltimore bullpen and into the front row of the elevated concrete bleachers in left-center.
STATS estimated the distance at 455 feet. A-Rod's 674th career home run gave him 16 seasons with at least 20 — his first since 2010. The threetime MVP sat out last season while serving a drug suspension.
It also was Rodriguez's 3,024th hit, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Lou Brock for 24th place.
Nova yielded three hits in six innings and got help from his defense. Second baseman Stephen Drew made an outstanding play to rob Davis of a hit in the second, and third baseman Chase Headley made a difficult stop near the line in the fifth to keep runners at second and third.
Teixeira's tough pick on Headley's one-hop throw preserved a 3-2 lead. Trainer's room Orioles: INF-OF Steve Pearce was placed on the 15- day disabled list, retroactive to July 19, with a strained muscle on his left side. Pearce said he's been getting treatment for a couple of days and "it's time to take care of it." He planned to travel back to Baltimore to be examined and make sure the injury isn't severe. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Pearce suggested the move, knowing the team needed to clear a roster spot for Gausman. "We were prepared to go some other ways," Showalter said. "With obliques, I'd sign up for it in blood if it was 12 days. I hope that's the case. We'll see." Flaherty made his third career start at 1B, and first since last season.
Yankees: RF Carlos Beltran was back in the lineup after sitting out Tuesday while Chris Young started against a lefty. The 38-year-old Beltran came off the disabled list Sunday after missing 12 games with a strained left oblique. Up next Orioles: RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (75, 3.29 ERA) starts the series finale this afternoon.
Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (6-3, 3.65) has won consecutive starts following a four-game winless stretch.