BALTIMORE (AP) -- It's far too early in the season to consider

Brian Roberts to be a slugger, and it would be premature to dismiss

the New York Yankees as a force in the AL East.

At this point, however, Roberts is hitting home runs like never

before. And, even more surprisingly, the Yankees are in last place.

AP Photo/Chris Gardner

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Roberts' three-run homer off Tom Gordon capped a five-run

seventh inning, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat the

slumping Yankees 7-6 Saturday.

Roberts went 2-for-4 with two walks to raise his batting average

to .444. The 5-foot-9 second baseman already has five home runs (in

11 games), matching his career high and eclipsing the four he hit

last season in 159 games.

"It's something that won't last, I'm sure, but crazy things

happen in this game every year, especially when you play 162

games," Roberts said. "It's one of those fluke things, I guess."

Sort of like the Yankees losing three straight and five of six

to fall to 4-7, their worst record after 11 games since an

identical start in 1991.

"We'll get it turned around. We just have to keep working

hard," manager Joe Torre said. "Evidently we still have to do

more work until we get to where we want to be."

This loss hurt a little bit more than the six that preceded it

because the Yankees thought they had it won after going up 6-2 in

the seventh.

"They all stink," Torre said, "but we felt that this game was

ours, and the people we had coming into the game, we felt pretty

good about it."

The Orioles trailed 6-2 before sending eight batters to the

plate in the seventh. After Javy Lopez and Jay Gibbons hit RBI

singles off Tanyon Sturtze, Roberts sent a 2-1 pitch from Gordon

(0-2) over the right-field scoreboard to give Baltimore its first

lead.

His weight is listed at 178 pounds, but Roberts has been hitting

a ton the past two weeks.

"He's a strong little kid. Don't let the size fool you,"

Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli said. "He picks his spots, looks for

a certain pitch and just puts the bat on the ball."

The pitch that Gordon threw was a cut fastball, and Roberts

jumped on it.

"Right now he's hot," Gordon said. "I tried to take my

chances with a cutter up and in and I missed my spot. It's tough to

get good hitters out when you miss your spot."

Steve Kline (2-1) pitched one scoreless inning, and B.J. Ryan

got four outs for his second save. Ryan struck out Hideki Matsui on

a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, then

retired pinch-hitter John Flaherty with two on and two outs in the

ninth.

Gary Sheffield homered, drove in three runs and scored twice for

the Yankees, who stranded 12 runners and were outhit 13-8.

Miguel Tejada singled in a run for the Orioles, becoming the

first Baltimore player to get at least one RBI in eight straight

games since Rafael Palmeiro in August 1996. Sammy Sosa, Gibbons and

Melvin Mora got two hits apiece.

New York went up 6-2 with a three-run seventh that featured an

RBI double by Alex Rodriguez and run-scoring grounders by Matsui

and Ruben Sierra. Matsui hit his grounder to Roberts, who was

playing in with the bases loaded. But Roberts double-clutched

before throwing home, allowing the run to score.

He redeemed himself in the bottom half, in a big way.

"That shows you something, the way he came back," Mazzilli

said.

Sheffield put New York up 2-0 in the first, driving a changeup

from Rodrigo Lopez far over the wall in center field after Derek

Jeter hit a leadoff single. Before connecting, Sheffield swung

wildly and missed two offspeed pitches.

Baltimore got a run in the bottom half when Roberts walked,

stole second and scored on a single by Tejada.

The Orioles stranded runners at the corners in the second, left

the bases loaded in the third and wasted a pair of two-out singles

in the fourth.

New York went up 3-1 in the fifth. Leadoff hitter Tony Womack

was awarded ball four when home plate umpire Jeff Nelson ruled that

Lopez went to his mouth on a 3-0 count, and Jeter also drew a walk.

After Rodriguez hit into a fielder's choice, Sheffield delivered a

sacrifice fly.

Mora singled in a run in the sixth to make it 3-2.Game notes
Jeter's first-inning single snapped a 2-for-18 skid, and

Rodriguez halted a 1-for-17 slide with a single in the third. ...

New York has trailed in 10 of its 11 games. ... Baltimore is 4-1

against the Yankees after going 5-14 against New York in 2004.