Yankees' Ivan Nova wastes 5-0 lead in 11-5 loss to Orioles

The only performance worse than the one Ivan Nova gave during Tuesday night's's game was the one he gave afterward.

The pitcher was beaten around for a season-worst nine runs in five innings in an 11-5 loss to the Orioles at the Stadium, then contended in the clubhouse that he actually had pitched all right.

"Bad luck'' is how the 25-year-old righthander chalked up his wretched evening.

He did allow that "I had a bad day today.''

Earlier in the interview, Nova, typically candid after rough outings, said: "I feel like I had command of my pitches. I just got hit.''

On the latter, Joe Girardi and Nova agreed.

And on this night, that was about it.

"He had no fastball command, an inconsistent slider, inconsistent curveball,'' Girardi said.

It, to use a Girardi word, "unraveled'' in the top of the second inning when Nova, who had been spotted a five-run lead, gave up seven runs.

After Adam Jones and Matt Wieters singled to start the inning, Nova came back to strike out Lew Ford and Wilson Betemit. But Mark Reynolds doubled on an 0-and-2 slider that came in straight, opening the floodgates. The barrage included Chris Davis' opposite-field grand slam off the top of the wall in left-center in an inning in which the Orioles sent 10 men to the plate.

Girardi's team has lost nine of its last 12 games to let the Orioles (55-49) creep within 5½ games of first place in the AL East.

The manager usually goes to great lengths to protect his players in public. But this time, his tone was much firmer regarding Nova.

He was asked if the pitcher, who had a breezy, six-pitch first inning, might have been affected by the long delay in the bottom of the first as the Yankees (60-43) scored five runs off Chris Tillman (4-1, 2.70). Girardi gave a blunt reply.

"Shouldn't,'' he said. "He gave up the two hits, then got ahead of Reynolds 0-and-2. So the stuff was OK. He just made a bad pitch to Reynolds . . . and it just unraveled.''

Nova (10-5, 4.53) walked six in his previous start in Seattle and has been inconsistent of late -- one victory in his last eight starts. He has said in the past that he has lost "focus'' at times on the mound.

"Well, he better get it back,'' Girardi said, cutting that question short. "Or it's going to happen a lot. You can't lose focus. You're a major-league pitcher and you have to be able to put things behind you.''

Nova did not think that was an issue Tuesday night, thought it wasn't clear what he believed it was.

"I was still focused,'' he said. "I got hit. I threw strikes, something I didn't do in Seattle. I have to turn the page.''

As do the Yankees, a team still comfortably ahead in the division but not playing well.

Their bats went into a slumber after erupting for five runs in the first. Derek Jeter led off with a double for the first of his three hits. After Curtis Granderson's run-scoring single, Robinson Cano snapped an 0-for-14 slide with his 23rd homer. Russell Martin also had an RBI single in the inning but after that, the rest of the night was all Orioles.

"We're not playing well, there's no doubt about it,'' Girardi said. "We've been through streaks before where we haven't played well and we've bounced back, and that's all we need to do.''

Nick Swisher started at first base in place of Mark Teixeira, who is expected to miss 3-5 days with a left wrist injury. Swisher took a big-picture approach.

"We just have to go out and play better baseball,'' said Swisher, starting his first game in the field since he suffered a hip flexor strain July 20. "But we're, what, still [close] to the best record in the big leagues? We're not stressing.''