O's Fall In Extra Innings To Yankees

The Birds fell out of first place for the first time this season, trading places with the Yankees after a 6-5 loss in ten innings in New York on Thursday night.

The winner of the game took sole possession of first in the A.L. East, and the O's were three outs away from leaving Yankee Stadium with the win and a split of the two-game series...

Jake Arrieta was masterful, taking a no-hitter through the first four innings. Arrieta left after six innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk while fanning two.

The offense sprung to life early, with Nick Markakis stealing the show...Markakis slapped a two-run homer in the second inning to put the Birds on the board, and followed with an RBI double in the fifth to give the O's a four-run lead. The Orioles actually led 5-0 before Arrieta allowed a hit...

But the Yankees slowly crept back...Jason Berken allowed a run in the seventh before Jim Johnson pitched out of a jam in the eighth to secure the one-run lead. Kevin Gregg came on in the ninth and after just one pitch the game was tied...Gregg served up a solo shot to Jorge Posada and gave up a double to the very next batter to put the winning run in scoring position with no outs. Gregg struck out the next two batters before retiring Derek Jeter on a ground ball to send the game into extra innings, but the damage had already been done...

After the Birds failed to get anything done against Mariano Rivera, Michael Gonzalez took the mound and things immediately took a turn for the worse...Gonzo walked the first batter he faced before giving up a double. With runners on second and third and none out, he coaxed a grounder before giving up a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees the walk-off victory and their first taste of first place in 2011.

I'm always looking for insurance runs against any team, but against the Yankees, they are crucial...Felix Pie (running for Luke Scott) was thrown out at home in the eighth after a wild pitch...replays showed it was a close call, but that run could have saved the game for the O's...

The Birds have now dropped four straight for the first time under Buck Showalter's command and head to Cleveland to take on the Indians for a three-game set. Zach Britton gets the nod on Friday night...