Baltimore — The pitching was sound. So was the defense.

Unfortunately for the New York Yankees, hitting remains very much a problem in their effort to climb out of last place in the AL East.

New York managed only four hits, stranded only three runners and lost 1-0 in 10 innings to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.

The Yankees wasted an outstanding pitching performance by Masahiro Tanaka, who blanked the Orioles on five hits over eight innings.

Right fielder Dustin Ackley made a game-saving catch in the ninth inning, but it wasn't enough to prevent New York from losing for the seventh time in eight games.

"It's frustrating," Ackley said. "You've got to manufacture a run there, at least one or two for Tanaka, who threw an unbelievable game. We weren't able to do it."

New York began the game ranked last in the AL in runs, total bases and slugging percentage. It didn't get any better in this one.

Kevin Gausman threw eight solid innings for the Orioles, and the bullpen finished the shutout.

"We didn't have a whole of chances off of Gausman," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I thought he threw the ball well. He matched Tanaka."

Hyun Soo Kim began the Baltimore 10th with an infield hit off Johnny Barbato (1-2). After Kim took third on a single by Jonathan Schoop, Nolan Reimold pinch ran for Kim and Andrew Miller relieved Barbato.

Pedro Alvarez hit a soft fly to center, and Reimold easily beat Jacoby Ellsbury's throw to the plate.

Zach Britton (2-1) gave up a leadoff walk in the 10th and then struck out the next three batters.

New York fell to 0-6-1 in its last seven road series dating to September. Girardi was ejected by third base umpire Chris Guccione in the middle of the fourth after arguing that Gausman should have been called for a balk with a runner on third.

"I was hot," Girardi said. "I don't understand why it's not called. It makes no sense. And I don't understand why I'm thrown out walking to ask him a question."

In the top of the ninth, Starlin Castro singled and reached second base on a wild pitch by Britton. Catcher Matt Wieters then picked off Castro.

Wieters came close to winning it in the bottom half. He hit a high drive to right that Ackley plucked at the top of his jump, and doubled up pinch runner Joey Rickard.

"Was able to time the jump and luckily it was close enough for me to catch it," Ackley said.

Gausman walked none and struck out four. Tanaka walked one and fanned seven.

"It's a lot of fun," Gausman said. "I kept telling myself in the dugout, 'He's not going to give in, I'm not going to give in.'"

Tanaka had given up exactly two earned runs in each of his first five starts, but in this one the right-hander permitted only two runners to reach second base.

"At the start, I wasn't feeling that good," Tanaka said through a translator. "The key thing for today was that I think I was able to make good adjustments during the game. One the adjustments were made, I was able to locate balls better and throw my off-speed stuff a little bit better."

Gausman allowed only two hits over the first six innings, an infield single by Aaron Hicks in the third and a leadoff double by Castro in the fourth.

The right-hander retired 10 straight batters before Mark Teixeira singled with one out in the seventh. Carlos Beltran followed by bouncing into a double play.

A rare feat

This was first time the Orioles' first 1-0 win over the Yankees since Sept. 25, 1981, in New York.

Trainer's room

Yankees: Brett Gardner did not start because of a bruised right elbow, which occurred when he was hit by a pitch Wednesday. Gardner entered as a pinch runner in the 10th, but his uncertain status caused the Yankees to recall OF Ben Gamel from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. LHP James Pazos was optioned to the minor league club.

Orioles: Britton, sidelined by an ankle injury since Saturday night, showed no any signs of injury.

Up next

Yankees: New York opens a 10-game homestand Friday night against the Boston Red Sox, who swept the Yankees last weekend.

Orioles: Winless in his last four starts, Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (1-3, 5.20 ERA) faces Oakland on Friday night in the opener of a three-game set.