MLB

Yankees lose to Orioles as Nuno gives up walkoff homer

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BALTIMORE — The Smoke & Mirrors Tour that has produced baseball’s biggest surprise sailed into the Inner Harbor last night and met its match.

With the score tied in extra innings and already having used relievers Boone Logan, Shawn Kelley, Preston Claiborne and David Robertson, manager Joe Girardi turned to lefty Vidal Nuno to face Nate McLouth.

A starter in the minor leagues and elevated to the majors to fill Andy Pettitte’s spot in the rotation, Nuno made his third big league appearance. It consisted of three pitches and ended when the lefty-swinging McLouth launched a homer beyond the right-center-field wall that carried the Orioles to a 3-2, 10-inning victory in front of 29,040 sweaty Camden Yards customers.

“It was supposed to be a cutter away,’’ said Nuno, a product of Baker University, an NAIA school, and the independent Frontier League. “It was a little off and he took advantage of it. One pitch and it cost us the game. I have to forget about it and get ready for my next outing.’’

Instead of being away, the cut fastball was middle in and a little up. McLouth attacked it and the Yankees’ three-game winning streak was finished.

“It’s a tight situation. He has been starting a lot in Triple-A,’’ said Robertson, who fanned all three batters he faced in the eighth on nasty curveballs. “In a situation like that you have to throw your best pitch. He left a pitch up long enough to McLouth and he put it in the seats. I have had it happen to me and it stinks. Nobody wants to be the guy who loses the ballgame.’’

The loss flushed a solid bounce-back start by Phil Hughes. Punished for seven runs and six hits in two-thirds of an inning by the light-hitting Mariners in his previous start, Hughes gave up two runs and five hits in six frames and left with the score tied, 2-2.

“Two mistakes cost me two runs,’’ said Hughes, who gave up a pair of solo homers to former Yankee Chris Dickerson on fastballs. “Overall, I felt out of my rhythm out of the windup but I gave us a chance to win the game.’’

A run in the first when Travis Hafner’s single off Miguel Gonzalez plated Brett Gardner and Hafner’s RBI single in the fourth were all the Yankees got off Gonzalez, who beat the Yankees twice last in year in a span of 33 days.

In each inning the Yankees scored they could have had more. Gardner led off the first with a double and Vernon Wells repeated that in the fourth and scored on Hafner’s single. However, Gonzalez retired the next three Yankees.

Dickerson, who played in 85 games for the Yankees from 2011-12 and hit three homers, tied the score at 1-1 and 2-2 with homers. From the fifth inning on neither team scored.

Having used Robertson in three straight games and three in four days and it only being the second month of the season, Girardi didn’t want to ask Robertson for a second inning.

“Can’t wear them out, can’t hurt people,’’ Girardi said of Robertson and Claiborne, who worked a scoreless ninth.

Outside of Nuno, Girardi’s choices were right-handers Adam Warren and Dellin Betances.

“With all lefties coming up we thought he could give us some distance,’’ Girardi said of Nuno. “Unfortunately, he gave up a homer.’’

One that Smoke & Mirrors could do nothing about.

george.king@nypost.com