masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgOrioles manager Buck Showalter was going batter to batter tonight in the seventh inning with starter Miguel Gonzalez, whose pitch count stood at 94 through the sixth.
“He wouldn’t let me go get him,” Showalter said following a 4-3 win over the Yankees before 19,283 at Camden Yards.
“I thought he had two innings where he really had to exert himself more than usual, but Miguel had one of those nights where he had a feel for the split. Third inning, picked up a good feel for it. With that many…

Orioles manager Buck Showalter was going batter to batter tonight in the seventh inning with starter Miguel Gonzalez, whose pitch count stood at 94 through the sixth.

“He wouldn’t let me go get him,” Showalter said following a 4-3 win over the Yankees before 19,283 at Camden Yards.

“I thought he had two innings where he really had to exert himself more than usual, but Miguel had one of those nights where he had a feel for the split. Third inning, picked up a good feel for it. With that many left-handed hitters in the lineup, a lot of them switch, you better… That’s why Miguel’s had some good luck against teams that are predominantly left-handed.”

miguel-gonzalez-white-front-windup-sidebar.jpgWas it a difficult decision to send Gonzalez back to the mound in the seventh? He struck out the side, so it was the right call.

“I didn’t think so. Now I don’t. It was tougher not putting him out there for the eighth,” Showalter said.

“I talked about his offseason. He’s probably done as much to be durable since the season ended last year as anybody. He’s maintained his stuff there. He’s got a goal to pitch 200 innings this year. He’s working on an extra day, too. He could conceivably his next time out.”

Gonzalez walked five batters in 5 2/3 innings in his season debut against the Rays. His command was much better tonight as he held the Yankees to one run, walked one and struck out a career-high 10 batters.

“This is a patient team, too,” Showalter said. “Jonesy (Adam Jones) got two runs for us in the first inning, one with the home run and one he saved a run out there. Made a good play. Sometimes you need good defense early on to kind of get a guy going a little bit. It makes pitchers confident when they know there’s better to come if they can get through that little area there. Get a feel for the game. Obviously, Miggy was the difference today.”

Closer Zach Britton made a difference, too, by retiring all four batters he faced on four ground balls, including Alex Rodriguez to end the game. Rodriguez was pinch-hitting for Stephen Drew, who’s 2-for-5 with a home run lifetime against Britton.

britton-pitch-white-sidebar.jpgBritton raced to cover the bag for a 4-1 putout that ended the eighth inning, and he pounced on Chris Young’s dribbler and fired to first baseman Steve Pearce for the second out in the ninth inning.

“What was better, his play or Pearce’s?” Showalter asked. “Go stand over there with a guy ready to take your arm off about that far away. A lot of first basemen bail on that play. That’s a hard play. You kind of guess where the ball is and semi-stab at it.

“In order to run that shift there, you’ve got to have a pitcher that can do what Zach did. I’m not sure if two years ago he could have made those two plays.

“It helps having a guy like Wei-Yin (Chen). They see how their defensive play has an impact on a game. It’s something every team stresses in the spring, but Zach really knew it’s something that he can get… He’s already made two or three plays that he wouldn’t have made two or three years ago. You can tell he’s very confident going after a ball now.”

Yankees starter CC Sabathia allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts.

showalter-stretch-for-high-five-sidebar.jpg“I thought he was very effective,” Showalter said. “He just ran into a pitcher who pitched very well. We had some timely hitting. Caleb (Joseph’s) triple, pushing across that fourth run was big.

“Pitchers as they get older, obviously to be as good as he is, there’s going to be some things that you’re going to have to create. He’s done a great job adding things to his repertoire. There will probably come a time when he’s back up there at 94, 96 again. But he’s very effective because he’s so much more of a pitcher than people give him credit for. The two-seamer, the changeup, the breaking ball. He’s a complete pitcher. He gives a catcher a lot of weapons to work with. And he’s tough on left-handed hitters.”

An ominous forecast didn’t impact tonight’s game. The rain stopped and the grounds crew, led by Nicole McFadyen, got the field ready for a 7:07 p.m. first pitch.

“I can’t imagine having a better grounds crew than we have,” Showalter said.

Alejandro De Aza’s season-opening hitting streak ended at six games.

Jones is 11-for-17 with four home runs, nine RBIs and eight runs scored over his last five games.

The Orioles are 18-1 when Joseph collects at least one RBI, dating back to May 20, 2014 when he registered his first one.

Britton registered the first multi-inning save of his career.