Britton razor sharp in latest bid for job

His scoreless-inning streak came to an end, but Zach Britton had plenty to be happy about after Tuesday's start.

The 23-year-old walked one and scattered six hits to allow one run over five innings, as his Baltimore Orioles beat up on the New York Yankees, 6-2. Britton grabbed five strikeouts -- including two of Mark Teixeira -- over the course of his fine outing.

Britton, who enters the season as MLB.com's No. 19 Top Prospect has faced an uphill battle for a rotation spot this spring, as the Orioles have five projected starters and won't even need the fifth until April 10. Nonetheless, Britton's efforts in the Grapefruit League have been tough to dismiss.

The 2006 first-rounder had tossed nine scoreless frames in Spring Training coming into Tuesday's game, and he extended that stretch two more innings with his second start against the Yankees. He worked a 1-2-3 first and got out of a first-and-third situation in the second before relenting in the third.

Yankees prospect Melky Mesa sparked a one-out rally in that frame, singling to left and later coming around to score on an infield grounder. Britton whiffed Jesus Montero, MLB.com's No. 9 Top Prospect, to end the inning.

Britton struck out two more to start the fourth. He then punched out Teixeira for the second time of the day and got Andrew Jones on a ground ball to get out of a fifth inning in which he'd hit Mesa and allowed a double by Nick Swisher.

He improved to 2-0 with his second consecutive victory, and his Spring Training ERA stands at 0.64. He was 10-7 with a 2.70 ERA over 27 games between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk last season.

Yankees Minor Leaguer Romulo Sanchez tossed two shutout innings in the loss.