Gonzalez endures rare rough outing

NEW YORK -- Orioles righty Miguel Gonzalez turned in an uncharacteristically short start in Friday's 5-4 loss to the Yankees, going a season-low four innings and giving up a season-high five earned runs.

Coming off his best outing of the season in a win over the Rays on May 2, Gonzalez allowed three runs in the first inning, including a two-run homer to Brian McCann. He gave up three of his five hits in that first frame and couldn't find a way to overcome his early struggles.

"It's tough because we know that they are hitting the ball really well and we can't make any mistakes, especially early in the game," Gonzalez said of the first-place Yankees. "And that's why I couldn't go more than four innings -- [I] had [nearly] 80 pitches and things didn't go our way."

After going eight consecutive starts with at least six innings, the O's have fallen short of that mark in their last three games. Gonzalez said he struggled in particular to command his split fastball and credited the Yankees for having some really good at-bats.

"You've got to go out there and try not to nibble too much," he said. "I was missing a little bit, but that's part of the game. Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't."

Four of Gonzalez's five runs allowed came with two outs, and manager Buck Showalter thought the righty wasn't far away from having a much better night.

"He's borderline missing some pitches, they were balls … [but] they got him off to a tough start," Showalter said of the Yankees' quick start.