masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgJim Johnson said he made mistakes with his location tonight, costing him and the Orioles as the New York Yankees scored five in the ninth off the O’s closer to post a 7-2 win tonight in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

“I made a mistake, obviously to (Russell) Martin and a couple of other mistakes over the middle of the plate, and we paid for it,” Johnson said. “It’s unfortunate after the effort we got out of everybody else. I didn’t hold my end of the bargain. I feel…Jim Johnson said he made mistakes with his location tonight, costing him and the Orioles as the New York Yankees scored five in the ninth off the O’s closer to post a 7-2 win tonight in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

“I made a mistake, obviously to (Russell) Martin and a couple of other mistakes over the middle of the plate, and we paid for it,” Johnson said. “It’s unfortunate after the effort we got out of everybody else. I didn’t hold my end of the bargain. I feel confident in our team and we’ll come back tomorrow with a better performance.

“I think I made some pretty good pitches and (there was some) bad luck here and there. Swinging bunt, you know, fisted ball. The pitch to (Robinson) Cano was not a good pitch. It went right back down the middle, I looked at that. You know that’s what happens, it’s a momentum thing. I’ve had some of those this year, so have to make your adjustments from your bad ones.”

After allowing just one run over his last 26 innings and giving up just three homers all year over 69 2/3 frames, Johnson gave up Martin’s homer to lead off the top of the ninth and allowed five runs and five hits in just one-third of an inning to take the loss.

But he pledged that he and the team will bounce back from this defeat.

“Yeah, that is why we play five games,” he said. “Every time we take the field we are going to compete. We are going to play hard. Obviously it’s an unfortunate way to lose this first game, especially at home. So like I said, we’ve battled all year. Why would we make it easy now?”

Johnson was asked how his stuff was tonight compared to most nights this year.

“I made mistakes and I paid for those and that was location,” he said. “It wasn’t necessarily anything else. Mainly two fastballs that really cost us. I have to make a better pitch, that is what it comes down to.”