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May 22, 2019; Baltimore, MD, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres (25) reacts after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Series Recap
·9 min read

Series Recap: Bombs and brooms, Yankees sweep Orioles

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The march for 17-2 continues. Your New York Yankees absolutely destroyed the Aberdeen IronBirds Baltimore Orioles, completing the four-game sweep and earning their twelfth consecutive victory at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It was a virtual home run derby as the Bronx Bombers went deep 13-times. This marked the sixth consecutive series victory for the Yankees.

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GAME 1

One wouldn’t place it in a time capsule but the Yankees put it in the win column. This game was all over the map but the Yankees took advantage of the Orioles lollypop guild outfield arms, video game rookie mode catcher and atrocious pitching and mashed to a 10-7 comeback victory.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

If it makes you feel any better on the same night Patrick Corbin lost to the New York Mets, so there’s that. As for J.A. Happ, he clearly didn’t have it and his ledger against the cartoon birds is perplexing this season.

In the first inning, consecutive trading spaces doubles by Hanser Alberto and Trey Mancini, along with an RBI-single by Pedro Severino, staked the O’s to a 2-0 advantage.

Happ also surrendered a pair of solo home runs to Alberto and Renato Nunez in the third inning.

The veteran southpaw wouldn’t make it out of the fourth, yielding a double to Richie Martin, RBI-single to Alberto and after Alberto singled, a steal and then an RBI-single to Dwight Smith Jr. to end his night trailing 6-1.

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CHIPPING AWAY

Like Joe Torre used to say, you don’t have to get it all back with one swing, just keep chipping away.

In the sixth, DJ LeMahieu, who would record his 17th multi hit game of the season, got the wheels churning with a single off Andrew Cashner. After a walk by Aaron Hicks, Luke Voit grounded out on a hot shot that was snared by Rio Ruiz at third and advanced both runners into scoring position. Gary Sanchez followed with a sharp RBI-single to left. A Kendrys Morales ground out to shortstop cut the Baltimore lead to 6-3.

LUKE THE BALL INTO THE GLOVE

During the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees allowed the Orioles to scratch back. With one out Smith Jr. sliced a one-out triple to left off Luis Cessa. The ensuing batter Mancini would take advantage of a dropped foul pop up by Voit and delivered a sacrifice fly RBI to right-field, making it 7-3.

THE LOLLYPOP GUILD

Yet, Voit’s error would hardly be the most egregious botch of the evening.

Facing Branden Kline in the seventh, Gio Urshela got the ball rolling with a single to left and advanced to second on a one-out walk by Cameron Maybin. LeMahieu followed by notching an RBI-single to right.

With Shawn Armstrong pitching, Hicks lifted a flyout to right and Smith Jr. made a dubious throw errant toward the first base dugout and Maybin scampered home.

CRAZY EIGHTS

In the eighth, Gleyber Torres continued to torch the Orioles and not even a replay review could hold him down. I know Peter Angelos owns the team but if I didn’t know any better I’d say it’s the Yankee shortstop. Torres, who got the Bronx Bombers on the board with a solo shot in the second, smacked his second of the game with a jolt to left-center off Mychal Givens. The home run game Torres eight on the season against the Orioles alone and 10 total on the campaign.

CALLED IT

Our fearless leader Scott Reinen literally called it before Sanchez strode to the plate in the ninth. Plus, couple that bullpen with this lineup and you can ill afford to give extra outs if you’re the Orioles but that’s what happened and the Yankees capitalized.

Facing Givens, Gardner and Maybin unleashed consecutive singles and both moved up on a terrible throw to third from left-fielder Joey Rickard. Hicks lifted a sacrifice fly RBI to left, plating Gardner and moving Maybin to third on a sketchy throw by Smith Jr. Voit then got some sense of redemption/relief after hitting a foul pop which the catcher Severino completely lost somehow in the lights, enabling Voit to eventually walk.

In turn, the New York backstop Sanchez made them pay with a three-run crank shot to left, making it 10-7 Bronx Bombers and completing the comeback.

GAME 2

Right off the rip the Bronx Bombers didn’t even bother toying around with the cartoon birds. New York was homer happy and cracked double digits again in an 11-4 victory.

SANCHINO SMACKDOWN

Following consecutive singles by LeMahieu (who recorded his 18th multi-hit game) and Voit, Sanchez crushed a full-count slider from David Hess, posting New York to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The blast to left was No. 14 on the campaign for Sanchez. The Hess truck was not better than ever but it probably felt like Christmas to Yankee hitters.

RED IN THE STRAWBERRY PATCH

Back in 1998, Darryl Strawberry destroyed a Mike Mussina offering off the batter’s eye in dead center for the longest home run in the history of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. While he didn’t hit it off the wall, Clint Frazier joined the strawberry patch by clocking a pair of home runs to straightaway center.

After an RBI-double by Urshela made it 4-0 in the third, Frazier clocked a two-run tater to center, making it 6-0.

In the fifth, Frazier drilled a three-run smash to center, increasing the Yankees advantage to 9-0.

A night off to refresh certainly worked wonders for El Rojo.

DOMINGO DRESSED TO THE NINES

Domingo German cruised along through the first four frames and didn’t need to do much to earn his ninth victory. German was mixing his curveball, fastball, and changeup on the evening, navigating through five frames.

On his ledger of five frames, German whiffed five, allowed five hits, one walk, and three runs. After pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, his blip was a three-run homer to right by Stevie Wilkerson in the fifth.

HUSTLE RIBBIE

Facing Josh Lucas in the sixth, Sanchez beat out a potential double-play ground out for his fourth RBI of the evening.

Torres would get on the board and cap off the scoring with an RBI-single to center.

SAVES ARE A FUNNY STAT

I mean, Goose Gossage would approve of the multiple inning effort and it was a job well done of eating innings by reliever David Hale. Hale saved the rest of the bullpen by toiling four frames, allowing one run on three hits, fanning one. Like Chance Adams on Sunday, Hale earned the save in a game that ended with a football score. What a funny rule.

GAME 3

Poor Gary Thorne. One almost wishes the Stanley Cup playoffs were still on ESPN so he could get a break from the MASN booth. Torres and Sanchez continued to torch Orioles pitching and CC Sabathia earned career victory No. 249 in a 7-5 win.

THE NOT SO USUAL SUSPECTS

In a game which felt like it was out of the 1990s, the ball was flying out of Camden Yards. Facing Dan Straily in the second stanza, Gardner set the table with a one-out double to right as part of his three-hit evening. With two down Thairo Estrada popped a two-run tater to center. Following a Maybin walk, LeMahieu, who recorded his 19th multi-hit game of the year, drove a two-run tater to right-center, increasing the Bronx Bombers advantage to 4-0.

TORRES TATERS AND T-SHIRTS

Torres had himself another night. In the third, the Yankee shortstop smoked a solo bomb to center off Straily. Advancing to the fifth, Torres homered to right off Gabriel Ynoa. The second home run gave the sophomore sensation 10 home runs against the Orioles alone this season or the total amount of home runs the Orioles had hit against the Yankees to that point. Torres became the fourth player with four multi-homer games against one team in the same season. Plus, Torres is the youngest player in the history of the junior circuit to register six multi-homer games.

SANCHEZ SLUGS

Sanchez continued to club the O’s as well. In the fourth frame against Straily, the Yankee backstop slammed home run No. 15 on the campaign to left, nine of which have come against Baltimore.

SABATHIA STAVES OFF

Nearly mirroring German’s outing from the night before, the veteran lefty was more or less cruising against the O’s with seven K’s and one unearned run allowed through the first four frames.

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Yet, in the fifth, the birds bats zeroed in on Sabathia with a Richie Martin solo shot to left and a Renato Nunez two-run tater to center being the worst of the big hits. One could tell Boone and the Yankees coaching staff had confidence they could beat the Orioles with both hands and feet tied behind their backs and desperately tried to get Sabathia through five for the win and a Gardner throw to nail Pedro Severino at the plate to end the inning was enough to stop the bleeding at 7-5.

After the game, the Yankee skipper cited a barking knee plaguing Sabathia and he was placed on the IL.

FRESH PEN LOCKS IT DOWN

A fresh Yankee bullpen took the torch the rest of the way allowing one hit and zero runs in four frames between Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman. Green scored some big points an inning after Voit had a Branden Kline pitch sail over his head, Green plunked Dwight Smith Jr. in the ribs.

GAME 4

Finishing off the sweep, the Yankees gave the Orioles a break, didn’t call Torres and Sanchez off the bench until the ninth, Britton worked the ninth and they still won 6-5.

TANAKA THURSDAY

Masahiro Tanaka mostly mesmerized Orioles hitters Thursday afternoon. Tanaka started off by getting ahead of batters early but got more deliberate after taking a comebacker from Ruiz in the second inning and firing it into right field. Tanaka’s lone run allowed came on a groundout by Martin.

Tanaka scattered five hits, one walk, one run and fanned five in six innings.

RED ALERT

Tying the game from the top rope against Dylan (not King Kong) Bundy was Frazier in the fifth. Frazier was not surprised by the first-pitch curveball and deposited it into the left-field stands. It was Frazier’s ninth home run of the year and his sixth against the Orioles.

TIMELY HITS IN THE CLUTCH

With the bases loaded in the sixth Urshela sent Bundy to the showers with a two-run single to left. Urshela is 4-for-4 with the bases juiced this season.

An inning later the little ball continued. Estrada coaxed a one-out walk, stole second and scored on an Austin Romine single through the hole to right.

LOOKIE LOOKIE LUKEY LUKEY

Lukey found a cookie in the eighth inning, smoking a solo bomb to center off Miguel Castro. Voit’s dozenth home run of the season increased the New York advantage to 5-1.

PRESSING THEIR LUCK

With the pitching staff getting shorter by the day the Yankees attempted to skate past the Orioles with two innings out of Jonathan Holder. Yet in the eighth Holder got wild walking Jonathan Villar and Stevie Wilkerson and yielded an RBI-single to Mancini to end his afternoon.

After Kahnle recorded a fly out to left against Smith Jr., he couldn’t hold Nunez in the yard and the Orioles knotted the score at five. Kahnle would rebound and hold Baltimore there, firing six consecutive strikes and they wouldn’t touch his changeup again.

BUST OUT THE WALKING STICK

In the ninth, the Yankees staged a two-out rally against Mychal Givens. Pinch hitting, Torres drew a walk and Sanchez singled to right. LeMahieu followed with a free pass and loaded the bases. After getting plunked multiple times, Hicks worked an RBI-walk for the go-ahead run.

ON DECK

At 32-17, the Yankees conclude their road trip in Kansas City and take on the Kansas City Royals for a three-game series.

Pitching probables, TBD vs. Jakob Junis, J.A. Happ vs. Danny Duffy, Domingo German vs. Jorge Lopez.