BALTIMORE – Scoring five runs has been a successful formula for the Yankees this season. Friday night, it simply delayed another gut-wrenching loss.  Nathan Eovaldi and Kirby Yates combined to blow a three-run lead in the sixth inning before Dellin Betances allowed the game-winner in the seventh, sending the Yankees to a 6-5 loss in the first of three against the Orioles at Camden Yards.  The Yankees had won 15 of their first 17 games when scoring five-or-more runs.  “Losing is tough to deal with, no matter how you do it,” Girardi said.  Joe Girardi gets defensive about Yankees lineup before game  The loss wasn’t the only bad news for the Yankees, assuming you view the potential loss of a struggling Mark Teixeira to be bad.  Teixeira left Friday’s game in the third inning with right knee discomfort, leaving the ballpark to undergo an MRI. Results were not available Friday night.  Teixeira has been seen in recent weeks with a large ice pack on his knee after games, though he’s dismissed it repeatedly, saying there was nothing wrong. Apparently that wasn’t the case.  “It’s something he’s dealt with before; just for whatever reason it started locking up tonight,” Girardi said. The manager wasn’t certain the two were directly related, however. “He was sore a little bit, but it was never locking up.”  Feinsand: If Yankees can't contend, they need to sell to rebuild  Rob Refsnyder took over for Teixeira, making his first career big-league appearance at first base. Girardi was uncertain what he would do at first base if Teixeira was forced to miss time.  “I have no idea,” Girardi said. “I’ve got to talk to my general manager.”  The offense – which entered the night ranked last in the AL in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage – got home runs from Carlos Beltran, Alex Rodriguez and Austin Romine, only the second time in the past 21 games they’ve hit three homers in the same game.  But Eovaldi had his worst start in more than a month, while Betances allowed runs for the third straight outing, taking the loss.  The righthander was unable to hold down a 5-2 lead in the sixth, allowing three hits and a walk before Yates served up a two-out, game-tying double by Jonathan Schoop.  Yankee Insider: Brian McCann day-to-day with elbow injury  “Lately, you feel good with a one-run lead; you feel really good about a three-run lead,” Brett Gardner said. “We just weren’t able to add on and they were able to come back a little bit and get close. They hit some balls in the right spots and before you know it, it was their game to win and not ours. It’s frustrating.”  Eovaldi was charged with five runs on eight hits and one walk, striking out five over 5.1 innings in the no-decision.  Down 1-0 in the fourth, Beltran took Chris Tillman deep for a two-run homer, his 13th of the season. A-Rod followed with a solo blast to right, his seventh of the year and No. 694 of his career. It was only the third time this season the Yankees hit back-to-back homers.  Chris Davis hit a towering homer to right field off Eovaldi in the bottom of the inning, pulling Baltimore within a run.  Follow the Daily News Sports on Facebook. "Like" us here.  Romine’s solo shot in the fifth and Chase Headley’s two-out RBI single in the sixth knocked Tillman out of the game as the Yankees took a 5-2 lead.  The Orioles loaded the bases with one out in the sixth against Eovaldi, setting up Matt Wieters’ two-run single the cut the lead to one.  “We were up three runs; in that situation, I’ve just got to do a better job of getting quick outs, attacking the hitters,” Eovaldi said. “It’s frustrating. I let them back into the game.”  Yates struck out Pedro Alvarez, but Schoop hit the next pitch for a double down the left-field line, scoring Mark Trumbo to tie the game.  Betances came into a tie game in the seventh, promptly giving up two singles. Manny Machado’s grounder to third plated Adam Jones with the go-ahead run, completing Baltimore’s comeback as the Yankees went down quickly and quietly over the final two innings.  “It was tough,” Betances said. “I definitely thought we had it today.”  With one-third of the season officially over, the Yankees are 25-29, leaving them 6.5 games behind the Red Sox and Orioles, who share the top spot in the AL East.  “We’re not where we want to be,” Girardi said. “We’re going to have to play a lot better in the next two-thirds to get where we want to get.”
Joe Girardi’s hope for Friday night was five runs from his offense, a lofty goal considering their recent play.