masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgNEW YORK – The Orioles have lost three straight games, all by one run. They’re now 12-14 in one-run games this season, compared to 29-9 last year.

The Yankees had 10 hits today off starter Chris Tillman, all of them singles, in a 5-4 win before 42,678.

“But they’re hits,” said manager Buck Showalter. “They’re getting them at the right time. The same has happened for us, too.”

Tillman gave up five runs and threw 111 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.

“He made some good pitches,” Showalter…NEW YORK – The Orioles have lost three straight games, all by one run. They’re now 12-14 in one-run games this season, compared to 29-9 last year.

The Yankees had 10 hits today off starter Chris Tillman, all of them singles, in a 5-4 win before 42,678.

“But they’re hits,” said manager Buck Showalter. “They’re getting them at the right time. The same has happened for us, too.”

Tillman gave up five runs and threw 111 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.

“He made some good pitches,” Showalter said. “A lot of borderline pitches, seven to 10 that could have gone his way, turned some counts around and ended up with being a walk where he had a 2-2 pitch he had to come in with a strike that he didn’t want to throw. He had a lot of little things that add up, but he’s capable of better. We’ve seen him real good this year. He didn’t implode. He stayed fair.

“He’s been solid. He’s solid. Like I said before, he’s graduated into a guy that we feel we can count on. He had an extra day’s rest today. We let him go a little bit. I thought he’s earned the right to get a chance to be a part of a winning game.

“(Brian) Matusz and Gaus (Kevin Gausman) pitched well for us. We stayed in contact there. When you get to (David) Robertson and (Mariano) Rivera, you don’t like your chances there.”

It was a hard day to pitch, with the temperate at 91 degrees in the early afternoon, but “it was for them, too,” Showalter said.

“Andy Pettitte, he bent a little bit. We had a chance to open him up a little bit. He doesn’t do that too much. He knows if he hangs around there and keeps it close, especially here with some of the things he has working for him…”

The Orioles swept the Yankees in Baltimore and are in danger of being swept in the Bronx. Typical of the American League East, where the race figures to remain tight.

“All I’m concerned with is if we’re going to be a part of that,” Showalter said. “It’s a given what the other four clubs are going to do. We’re trying to stay focused on what we’ve got to do. We’re going to have some challenges along the way. It’s that time of the year with the weather and everything else that you’ve got to continue to challenge yourself. We will.”