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Series Recap
·5 min read

Series Recap: Yankees bats break Orioles

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At this stage of the season one wants to take advantage of every opportunity to gain ground or separation in the standings. While the New York Yankees ideally would’ve loved to have swept the Baltimore Orioles, in a vacuum their taking three of four essentially broke the birds with their bats.

GAME 1

Honoring the late Gene “Stick” Michael and his No. 17 on the field at Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers busted out their sticks in a 13-5 blowout of the Orioles.

THUMBING THEIR NOSES

It was a thumbs down effort by O’s hurler Wade Miley, who lasted all of one out and 19 pitches in the first frame.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Judge got the wheels churning with consecutive singles to center. A great read by Ellsbury set up runners at the corners.

Ensuing batter Gary Sanchez followed by ripping a RBI-double to left.

After a Matt Holliday groundout scored Judge, a RBI-single to center by Chase Headley raised his hitting streak to 12 straight and scored Sanchez.

A base hit by Didi Gregorius made it first and second.

Capping off the scoring was Todd Frazier with a three-run bomb into Monument Park, giving the club a “thumbs down” touchdown lead.

What if I told you a “George R.R. Martin” doppelganger wearing a turquoise shirt was responsible for the birth of a new dynasty?

HERE COME THE JUDGE, THERE GO THE BALL

Adding to his video game numbers against the O’s, Judge went deep twice. In the fourth, Judge rocked a Mike Wright offering into right-center for a three-run blast.

During the sixth, Judge cranked a three-run laser off Richard Rodriguez to left. The second home run gave him 43 on the season and No. 27 at Yankee Stadium this season, setting a single-season record in the new house. Judge outscored the opposition with a six-RBI evening.

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GOODNESS GRACIOUS GARY

One batter later, entering the pinstriped record books was Sanchez. With his solo smash to center, El Gary became the Yankees single-season record holder by hitting 31 home runs as the primary catcher. The consecutive home runs made it 13-2 Yankees.

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TANAKA THURSDAY

“Masa” was money in a nice rebound outing from his start at Texas. Tanaka whiffed eight, scattering eight hits and two runs over seven frames.

GAME 2

Once again the Yankees played like a team focused on winning the AL East, upending the Orioles 8-2.

DIDI DETERMINED

In his postgame interview, Sir Didi admitted his squad’s goal is to go beyond the AL Wild Card. In addition to some slick fielding, Gregorius knocked in four runs from the cleanup spot. The Yankees shortstop got the team on the board with a sacrifice fly to right in the first. He would also drive in Brett Gardner via the sac fly in the seventh.

Around all of his fundamental hitting, was a two-run homer smoked to right off reliever Miguel Castro in the fifth, giving the Bronx Bombers a 4-2 advantage they’ve never relinquish.

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SWEET LU

Luis Severino is a bonafide ace and if not for an Apple Watch, might be running away with the AL Cy Young award. It was yet another dominant outing for Severino, who went deep with eight innings, yielding three hits and striking out seven.

HOT HITTING

Headley and Sanchez kept up their hot hitting against the O’s. With a three-hit performance, along with a RBI-single in the seventh, Headley ran his hitting streak to 13 consecutive contests.

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Sanchez also picked up a RBI-single in the seventh for a two-hit night.

BIRD BATH

After dealing with some back issues, Greg Bird returned to the lineup and capped off the scoring with a solo blast to right against Richard Bleier in the eighth.

THE 900 CLUB

Manager Joe Girardi earned victory No. 900 on his Yankee career. Girardi ranks sixth on the Yankees all-time list.

GAME 3

The Bronx Bombers were back at it in their breaking of the Orioles in a 9-3 victory.

DIDI GOES DEEP DEEP

After Jeremy Hellickson issued consecutive two-out walks to Headley and Judge in the third, Gregorius swatted a three-run homer to right. At 23 homers, he’s one away from equaling Derek Jeter’s single-season franchise record by a shortstop. With 80-RBI on the campaign, Gregorius has more RBI in a season by any Yankee shortstop not named Jeter or Tom Tresh. It was also a three-hit afternoon for Sir Didi.

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BIRD RETURNS TO THE NEST

An inning later, Bird found his sweet spot and hammered his second homer in as many games into the second deck. Bird’s three-run launch made it 6-0 and chased Hellickson from the game.

JACOBY ELLS-BUR-THREE

Along with Headley, who increased his hitting streak to 14, Ellsbury continued to be red hot. On the afternoon Ellsbury went 3-for-4 with a run, stolen base and RBI-single in the fifth.

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THUMBS DOWNTOWN FRAZIER

Todd Frazier capped off the scoring with a two-run bomb to center in the seventh against Donnie Hart, his second in as many contests.

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GUMBY GREAT

Jordan Montgomery posted his best start since a July victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Gumby scattered four hits and fanned six across six frames, earning the victory.

WINNING TRADITION

Earning victory No. 82 on the season, the Yankees clinched their 25th consecutive winning season, dating back to 1993.

GAME 4

While it’s difficult to pull off a four-game sweep, the Yankees 6-4 loss to the Orioles was a missed opportunity, especially with the Tampa Bay Rays finally beating the Boston Red Sox.

SNAKEBIT SONNY

After the Yankees put together three consecutive blowouts and naturally cooled off when Sonny Gray toes the rubber. Gray didn’t exactly help himself nor did his defense for that matter. The lineup inexplicably couldn’t hit Ubaldo Jimenez, fanning 10 times in five frames but somehow picked it up after Gray left the game.

Who knows how much the alteration of the rotation made an impact but Gray was rocked for five runs in four frames with the big blow coming off the bat of Tim Beckham, who drilled a three-run shot to left in the fourth.

MR. JETER HAS COMPANY

The biggest bright spot on the afternoon was a second-inning solo shot by Gregorius. The home run was No. 24 on the year and equaled Derek Jeter’s single-season franchise mark for home runs by a shortstop.

OFF DAY

There used to be an old saying in baseball, “sleep in November.” Granted Girardi and his staff know their players better than the rest of us but it makes one wonder why the red-hot Ellsbury wasn’t in the lineup. After Frazier had a rough afternoon in left and at the dish, Girardi eventually brought in Ellsbury and he would double in his second plate appearance.

ON DECK

At 82-67, the Yankees host the Minnesota Twins for a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins starting Monday night.

Pitching probables include Ervin Santana vs. Jaime Garcia, Jose Berrios vs. CC Sabathia, Bartolo Colon vs. Masahiro Tanaka.