BALTIMORE — Corey Patterson capped a perfect night at the plate by scoring the winning run on Scott Proctor’s bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning, giving the Baltimore Orioles a 3–2 victory over the skidding Yankees last night.

Patterson led off the ninth with a walk and Brian Roberts singled. Proctor (1–5) then made a sensational diving catch on a bunt by Chris Gomez, but missed an opportunity to double up Patterson, who had strayed three-quarters of the way to third base.

After a walk to Nick Markakis loaded the bases, Proctor appeared to hit Ramon Hernandez with a pitch. Plate umpire Rob Drake ruled otherwise, but Hernandez drew a walk when Proctor threw an outside pitch on a 3–2 count.

Patterson went 3–for–3 with a walk, scored two runs, and drove in one.

Johnny Damon homered for the Yankees, who have lost three straight and six of seven.

Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings, his shortest outing in nine starts since May 8. He struck out six and walked one.

The rookie right-hander is 3–0 with seven no-decisions in his last 10 starts.

Chris Ray (4–5) worked the ninth to complete a solid performance by the Baltimore bullpen, which gave up one hit over 2 2-3 scoreless innings.

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte yielded two runs and eight hits in seven innings, striking out two and walking five. He entered with a 20–5 record against Baltimore, including 12–3 at Camden Yards.

Down 2–0, New York pulled even against Guthrie in the sixth. Miguel Cairo hit a one-out single and Damon, who had previously struck out twice, followed with his fifth home run — a drive to right on a 1–1 pitch.

Damon, who had four ribs realigned by a chiropractor Monday, was in a 4–for–31 skid before connecting.

In the seventh, however, Damon hit into a fielder’s choice against Jamie Walker with runners at the corners and two outs.

Through the first five innings, Baltimore stranded eight and was 1–for–8 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles missed a chance to jump in front in the second when Jay Payton grounded out with two outs and two on. In the third, however, Patterson hit a leadoff single and came around to score on a groundout by Markakis.

Baltimore made it 2–0 in the fourth. Melvin Mora walked and Kevin Millar dropped a single between outfielders Melky Cabrera and Bobby Abreu before Patterson blooped a two-out, run-scoring single to center.

Millar left the bases loaded in the fifth, popping out with two outs after Pettitte yielded a double and two straight walks.

Notes: New York’s Derek Jeter went 2–for–4 on his 33rd birthday and made a fine play at shortstop in the fifth inning, avoiding the broken bat of Hernandez while fielding his grounder, then throwing to first. … The crowd of 39,934 was the largest at Camden Yards since the home opener. … Last month, Proctor issued a pair of bases-loaded walks in the seventh inning against the Angels, letting Los Angeles rally to complete a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium. … New York’s Roger Clemens, who missed the game to attend the funeral of his mother’s friend, will seek his 350th win tonight.