Showalter's Orioles beat Yankees, Burnett

The Orioles had not won a game at Yankee Stadium in nearly a year when they rolled into the Bronx today. They had come up short in their first six tries this season, at times looking like the worst team in all of baseball.

But this afternoon, the Orioles knocked off the Yankees, 4-3, showing a new style under Buck Showalter and raising some old questions about the Yankees.

The Orioles' last victory in the Bronx was on Sept. 12, 2009. On that day, Brian Matusz beat A.J. Burnett – the same pitchers of record as today. The buzz after that game was that Burnett was the Yankees' biggest question mark as they approached the playoffs.

AP

Jorge Posada walks back to the dugout after striking out in the ninth inning of the Yankees' 4-3 loss to the Orioles.

He still is.

Burnett lasted seven innings, allowing four runs, and afterward everyone around the Yankees was saying it was a good step and he had good stuff. Still, the prospect of Burnett pitching in October feels like more of a gamble than rolling the dice in Vegas.

Burnett, to his credit, did not put a spin on his 13th loss of the season. Burnett's record as a Yankee now stands at 23-22, nearly two years into a five-year, $82.5 million deal.

"I'll look at the positive tomorrow," Burnett said. "I'm a little too upset about everything else."

The Orioles did not beat up Burnett, but they had four one-run innings. The killer coming in the seventh when Brian Roberts' second RBI single of the day put the O's up, 4-3, after the Yankees had scored twice in the sixth to tie the game in front of a holiday crowd of 46,103.

Twice after the Yankees tied the game, Burnett coughed the lead back up in the following inning.

The inconsistency of the pitching staff overall is the top concern around the Yankees clubhouse as they close in on the postseason. But Andy Pettitte's track record says he'll be ready in four weeks to pitch meaningful games. Phil Hughes and Javier Vazquez are equally as erratic as Burnett right now, but neither will be leaned on as heavily in October.

While Burnett remains the same question mark this season as he was last season, Derek Jeter has now joined him. In the game last Sept. 12, Jeter received a standing ovation for breaking Lou Gehrig's franchise hits record the night before. Today, he went 1-for-4, keeping his average at a career-low .264 and running his slump to 6-for-51 (.118).

Everyone expects the bright lights of the playoffs to snap Jeter out of his funk, but what if it doesn't happen? Girardi has shown he's committed to batting him first or second in the order regardless of the results.

Jeter led off today's game with a double to center field, the only hit the Yankees had off Matusz in the first three innings. But he grounded out the next three at-bats, although third baseman Josh Bell made a nice, diving play to rob him of RBIs in the fifth.

"I like my at-bats the last few days," Jeter said. "All you can do, like I've said before, you forget about what's happened up until this point and you try to move forward."

Alex Rodriguez hit his first home run since coming off the disabled list Sunday, with a solo blast off Matusz in the fourth inning that hit the back wall of the visitor's bullpen. That tied the score 1-1, but Roberts hit an RBI single to left the following inning to put Baltimore back on top.

Roberts, who had been on the disabled list when the Yankees faced the Orioles before this season, was 3-for-5 in the game with two RBIs.

"He's a pain," Jeter said. "It seems like he always has good at-bats. He fouls off some tough pitches and he gets on base. They're obviously a much different team when he's on the field."