BRONX, N.Y. — Austin Romine, Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner decided the Yankees didn’t score enough runs last night, so they pounded the Orioles for another 12 on Saturday afternoon and won 12-4. With the victory, the New York Yankees moved into sole possession of first place and now own a record of 15-7.
The Yankees’ leadoff hitter was in a slump going into the second game of the series. Gardner’s average was .188, but after his two-HR day he brought it up to .208. Gardner’s home runs came off of Orioles’ starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who was mashed by the Yankees all afternoon.
Jimenez lasted just 3.1 innings and surrendered six earned runs on five hits. He didn’t command the strike zone well. as he walked three batters, but did strike out four.
In relief of Jimenez, the Orioles’ bullpen allowed another five earned runs. Jayson Aquino has been dismantled by the Bronx Bombers in the first two games of this series. Aquino has seen two innings of action out of the bullpen and allowed six earned runs.
Yankees’ starter Michael Pineda was impressive again in his outing on Saturday. The big righty allowed two unearned runs and struck out eight in 5.1 innings of work. Pineda’s pitch count forced him to exit the game early, but he threw quality pitches all afternoon.
Austin Romine was arguably the biggest story of the day for the Yankees. The backup catcher drove in five runs on his two hit day. Romine’s 5-RBI game was the most runs he’s ever batted in. Aaron Judge also had himself a day at the plate. The big guy slugged his 10th home run of the season and now only trails Eric Thames and Ryan Zimmerman for the most homers in baseball (11).
The Yankees are on the verge of sweeping yet another series at home and would give them a two-game cushion over the Orioles if they were to do so on Sunday. Jordan Montgomery will try and close things out against the O’s most reliable starter this season, Wade Miley. The southpaw one-hit the Yankees in his last appearance against them, but did allow seven walks, which forced him to leave the game after five innings of work.
The Yankees have the Majors’ best record (15-7, .682)…have sole possession of 1st place in the AL East for the first time since 8/22/15
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) April 29, 2017
Win- Michael Pineda
Loss- Ubaldo Jimenez
