Greene's Rough Start Officially Ends Yankees' Postseason Hopes in Loss to Orioles

Shane Greene surrendered six earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings and the offense struggled to gain momentum in their final six turns today as the Yankees' October hopes officially dissappeared with a 9-5 loss to the Orioles.

After three frames today, thanks to an RBI Double by Mark Teixeira and a pair of solo home runs by Stephen Drew and Chase Headley, the Yanks actually led 3-0, a score that appeared to be in their favor with the usually-reliable Greene on the mound. 

Nonetheless, due to a Ryan Flaherty two-run double, a Nick Markakis two-run single, and a couple of more run-scoring knocks by David Lough and Adam Jones in the top of the fourth New York found themselves behind for the majority of this one, a fact that basically ruined their day in the end.

Indeed, from that at-bat on Baltimore held complete control of the contest, a happening greatly assisted by Bud Norris' three-run, six-inning outing. Fortunetaly, in the bottom of the eighth the aforementioned Teixeira would line a Brad Bach offering off the right-field foul pole to bring the Yankees to within four, but since just two more men would reach base for them on the afternoon they still eventually fell, a dissapointing truth that dropped their record on the year to a pretty average 81-77.

Pineda's Gem Lifts Yankees to 5-0 Win Over Orioles

Michael Pineda tossed 7 1/3 shutout innings and Derek Jeter connected on a big two-run double tonight as the Yankees continued their recent hot streak with a 5-0 win over the Orioles. 

For this one's first 4 1/3 frames, interestingly, Pineda didn't even give up a baserunner, a nice way to begin the outing in which the O's mustered just one hit and the right-hander, whose record is now 4-5 and whose ERA is now 1.93, struck out eight.

Nonetheless, thanks to a similarly good first few at-bats by Baltimore's Wei-Yin Chen (6 IP, 4 R/2 ER) the contest remained scoreless until the bottom of third, when a Ryan Flaherty throwing error, a Jose Pirela triple off the left-center field wall in his first career plate appearance, and a groundout from the aforementioned Jeter gave the home team an early 2-0 advantage.

Then in the fifth, after another single from Pirela and a walk of Brett Gardner, the suddenly on-fire Jeter contributed again with said double down the left field line, a knock that acted as the dagger on the night with Pineda throwing so well and Chase Headley's adding of a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth.

Mitchell Solid, But No Offense Again Dooms Yankees in Game 2 Loss

Rookie right-hander Bryan Mitchell gave up just 2 earned runs in 5 innings and Chris Young connected on a single to extend his current hitting streak to five, but since the offense only collected four total knocks and Bud Norris looked like an All-Star the Yankees again lost to the Orioles tonight, 5-0, helping the latter complete a sweep of the doubleheader. 

Overall in his first career start this evening, Mitchell, who went 4-2 with a 3.67 ERA with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, looked alright, surrendering just six hits while striking out two to keep the Yanks in the game.

Nonetheless, after a pair of RBI extra-base hits by Ryan Flaherty and Alejandro De Aza broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth the contest essentially ended, with the aforementioned Norris striking out ten in his 7 shutout frames. 

Indeed, Baltimore seemed to control every aspect of this contest, although since New York did still only trail by two going into the bottom of the seventh the possibility remained there that they'd eventually find a way to rally, something that unfortunately didn't come to fruition due to David Phelps' giving up of two more runs in that at-bat.