BALTIMORE, MD - OCTOBER 03: Wei-Yin Chen #16 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches in third inning during game one of a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on October 3, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Yankees starter Ivan Nova allowed five runs in another shaky outing and New York failed to wrap up home field for the AL Wild Card Game, losing 9-2 to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday in the opener of a split-doubleheader.
New York (87-73) can still ensure Tuesday's one-game playoff takes place at Yankee Stadium with a win in the second game against the Orioles or a loss by Houston (85-75), which plays at Arizona later Saturday.
Baltimore's Gerardo Parra had four hits and three RBI. Manny Machado had his 34th home run, off Nova (6-11), and also drove in three runs, and J.J. Hardy had three hits for the Orioles.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he would split his regulars between the first and second game. Center fielder Brett Gardner was the only lefty who faced the left-handed starter Wei-Yin Chen (11-8).
"I think the one thing that tops home-field advantage is health," Girardi said. "Playing guys two games today, to me, is risky in a situation like today, when it's cold and wet and rainy."
New York right-hander Luis Severino will start the late game against Ubaldo Jimenez.
In the final start of his first season since Tommy John surgery, Nova allowed eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, walked three and hit a batter to raise his ERA to 5.07.
It was still only 2-0 before Machado hit Nova's 1-2 fastball into the Orioles bullpen with two outs in the fifth. Machado added an infield RBI single when Chasen Shreve relieved Nova during a four-run sixth.
Parra singled in a run in the sixth and drove in two more on his second double of the game in the seventh.
Chen allowed two runs in six-plus innings in what could be his final start for the Orioles, striking out three while allowing four hits and three walks.
A pending free agent, the 30-year-old from Taiwan finished the season with a 3.34 ERA. He's 46-32 with a 3.72 ERA in four seasons with Baltimore.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: 3B Chase Headley (back stiffness) was in the lineup for Saturday's first game. ... OF Jacoby Ellsbury (back stiffness) was expected to play the second.
Orioles: 2B Jonathan Schoop will have a follow-up exam later Saturday on his bruised right hand. "He's getting a fluoroscope -- I don't know if that's the right word, but it's a sort of next-step X-ray," said manager Buck Showalter.
UP NEXT
Yankees RHP Michael Pineda (12-9, 4.24) looks for his third win in four starts against Orioles RHP Chris Tillman (10-11, 5.05), who last finished a season with an ERA of five or higher in 2011.
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