You would think after not having a lead against the New York Yankees for five straight games and a span of 52 innings that the Orioles would have clung to their two-run advantage Wednesday night a little more desperately.

You would think the mere shot at a victory after 10 losses in their last 11 games, several in lopsided fashion, and nine straight defeats to these Yankees would be enough motivation for the Orioles to tighten up defensively and help out a young pitcher who was battling gamely to keep his team in front.

Of course, these are the 2010 Orioles, so you have to think twice.

A throwing error by pitcher Chris Tillman led to a run in the fourth inning and then a slew of defensive miscues in the sixth allowed the Yankees to score two more runs on their way to a 4-2 victory in front of an announced 16,451 at rainy Camden Yards.

Their margin of error against the reigning world champions slim to begin with, the Orioles (16-43) all but handed the Yankees a 10th straight victory in the season series, and will now have to win Thursday in Jake Arrieta's big league debut to avoid another sweep.

The Orioles took a 2-0 lead by the end of the third inning on the strength of two-out RBI singles from Garrett Atkins and Adam Jones off Yankees ace CC Sabathia. But what got them that lead -- timely hits, a patient approach and solid pitching and defense -- evaporated, culminating in an ugly top of the sixth inning.

It started when Mark Teixeira reached base when Orioles second baseman Julio Lugo booted a routine ground ball. Alex Rodriguez followed with a single that bounced just in front of left fielder Luke Scott and kicked off his glove to put runners on first and third with no outs.

Tillman, who had worked out of jams for much of his outing, couldn't put away Robinson Cano, who bounced a single over the head of drawn-in first baseman Ty Wigginton to tie the game at two and keep runners at the corners with no outs. Cano had three more hits Wednesday night and is now 22-for-44 (.500) with four homers and eight RBIs against the Orioles this season.

Jorge Posada followed by hitting another bouncer to Wigginton, who had the option of taking an out at first while making sure Rodriguez didn't try to score from third. The Orioles first baseman opted to try and turn a double play, which they would have gotten had shortstop Cesar Izturis not thrown the ball away for the team's third error.

The Orioles had a shot to tie the game off Sabathia in the seventh, but Cano made a diving stop on Markakis' ground ball between first and second base. Markakis beat out his throw but by keeping the ball in the infield, Cano prevented Izturis from scoring from second base. After a walk to Wigginton loaded the bases, Sabathia got Scott to flail at a 1-2 slider out of the zone to end the inning and his outing.

Sabathia (6-3) improved to 4-0 with a 2.73 ERA against the Orioles this season, and 13-1 against them in his career despite a rocky start to his outing.

The Orioles lost a potential run in the first inning when Lugo, after working a leadoff walk, was picked off by Sabathia. Nick Markakis stroked a two-out ground rule double, but there was nobody on base to score.

They did push a run across in the second inning, taking advantage of a one-out walk by Jones and a two-out single by Atkins into right field.

Leading 1-0, the Orioles pushed another run across in the third, thanks to three straight two-out singles. Wigginton drove a ball back through the middle, Scott laced a Sabathia first pitch into right field and then Jones found a hole through the left side of the infield to score Wigginton.

To that point, Tillman had fought through some jams to keep New York off the scoreboard. In his previous start, the young right-hander became unglued in the second innings and got just four outs against the Boston Red Sox before he exited with the Orioles trailing 4-0.

He held things together this time even though the Yankees threatened in every inning. They had men on first and second with no outs in the second, but Tillman retired the next three batters. Two Yankees reached in the third, though catcher Matt Wieters cut down one of them ( Derek Jeter) trying to steal to help Tillman get out of that frame.

Curtis Granderson cut the Orioles' lead to 2-1 in the fourth when his sacrifice fly scored Cano, who had reached on a single, got to second on Tillman's throwing error, and moved to third on Posada's ground ball to the right side.

The Yankees then took the lead for good in the sixth, thanks to plenty of help from their charitable hosts.

jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com