Yankees 12, Orioles 4: There are never too many homers

Isn’t this team awesome? After an unbelievable comeback last night where the Yankees beat the Orioles 14-11 after trailing 9-1, the offense is back at it again. The Bronx Bombers lived up to their name as they scored 12 runs, and hit four home runs, while Michael Pineda allowed just two runs (none earned) over five and one-third innings.

The Yankees stole a win last night, and the first question I asked myself coming into this game was whether the team could carry the momentum over from yesterday. They did. Pineda, even though he labored a bit, struck out the side in the first inning. And on the second pitch to Brett Gardner, he launched it into the right field seats. It was his first home run since July 30th of last year.

In the second inning, it was more of the same from the bats. Didi Gregorius singled with one out, and both Aaron Judge and Greg Bird walked to load the bases. Austin Romine hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the second run, and then Gardner hit a three-run blast to make the score 5-0.

It was smooth sailing from there, and the offense still didn’t let up. In the fourth inning Romine hit a two-run single to knock Ubaldo Jimenez out of the game, and it was 7-0 before you could twist and turn. Jimenez finished the day with six earned runs over three and one-third innings with four strikeouts and three walks. I’d love to see him face this current crop of Yankees any day.

Pineda was knocked out of the game in the sixth inning after Mark Trumbo reached base on a Chase Headley throwing error, allowing Manny Machado, who previously hit a double, to score. One more run scored in the inning on an Adam Warren wild pitch, but that was the extent of the damage. Pineda had a fine day for himself, even though he was quite inefficient: zero earned runs, one walk, eight strikeouts, and five hits allowed over five and one-third innings. According to James Smyth, this line has never occurred in baseball history.

Following the starters’ outings, the Yankees put the final nail in the Orioles’ coffin. Romine put the cherry on top of his fantastic day with a two-run shot off of old friend Vidal Nuno to make it 9-2. Gregorius tacked on another run in the seventh with a double, and then the amazing, fantastic, phenomenal, and unimpeachable Judge hit his tenth home run of the season to make the score 12-2. Don’t look now, but he’s hitting .301/.393/.767 (217 wRC+) on the season. Love this man.

Warren was admirable in relief, and he’s also had a great start to his season; he allowed just a hit and walk over two and two-thirds innings. Tommy Layne came in to close out the game, but with some struggles. He allowed a two-run home run to Caleb Joseph, a single to Craig Gentry, a walk to Machado, but was able to strike out Joey Rickard, Trey Mancini, and and induce a weak fly out from Trumbo to finish the game.

The Yankees have themselves another series win, against a division rival no less. They’ll look to get the sweep tomorrow afternoon at 1 PM EST. Jordan Montgomery will take on Wade Miley, and you can watch the game on YES, MASN, or MLB.tv.