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Series Recap
·9 min read

Series Recap: Bye-bye-birdies, Yankees sweep Orioles

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When the New York Yankees went on a tear earlier this season, it came on the heels of a split and an ugly loss to the Miami Marlins. Fast forward to late August and coming off a split and an ugly loss to the Marlins, perhaps the Yankees are ready to go off on another big run. To that end, the Yankees did what they needed to do by recording a four-game sweep against the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore.

Proof that they can beat up the O’s, sweep them in a doubleheader and a series. Couple that with the Boston Red Sox getting swept in a three-game series at the Tampa Bay Rays and the Yankees find themselves six games out in the AL East and five games back in the loss column. So much for a team that doesn’t have any energy and doesn’t look like it’s having any fun. Right, Pedro Martinez? Tick tock.

GAME 1

Raise your hand if you had the Yankees’ one-two power punch bolstered by their first baseman and right fielder in late August. Raise your other hand if you had those two being Luke “Louis” Voit and Neil “Walkie” Walker. There were bloops and blasts and a return by CC Sabathia on the mound. It all added up to New York’s eighth extra-inning victory, their most since 2001, in a 7-5 win.

DUB STEP, DUB STOP

Aside from shaking off the rust in the first frame, Sabathia was back and playing the role of stopper. A bases-loaded two-run single to right by Chris Davis, to give the Orioles a 2-0 advantage, was the most damage Sabathia would yield on the evening. Sabathia would provide New York with six solid innings, whiffing eight, allowing two runs on five hits and two free passes.

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A BLOOP AND A BLAST

The Bronx Bombers would get on the board against Alex Cobb in the fourth frame. Walker lined a one-out single to center. With two-down Voit and his patriotic bat launched a two-run tater to left. Voit’s first home run as Yankee squared the contest at two.

TRYING TO SHOULDER THE LOAD

David “D-Rob” Robertson looked as though he would shake off a fielding error by Gleyber Torres at shortstop in the seventh. Yet, with two down, Robertson yielded a two-run home run to left-center to Jonathan Villar. Villar’s tenth home run gave the O’s a 4-2 lead.

A BLOOP AND A BLOOP AND A BLOOP

Clawing back in the eighth, Giancarlo “G” Stanton set the table with a walk against Mike Wright Jr. After Paul Fry entered and retired Aaron “Hicksie” Hicks on a pop out, Miguel “Papa” Andujar blooped a single to center. Walker followed with a bloop single to left. After O’s skipper Buck Showalter called on Mychal Givens, Gleyber “GT” Torres blooped a two-run single to right, aided by an aggressive send by third base coach Phil “Viking” Nevin, knotting the game at four.

LUKE SKYWALKER

Facing former Yankee farmhand Cody Carroll, the Yankees new dynamic duo was back in action in the tenth inning. With one out, Walker drilled a solo home run to center, his eighth of the season gave New York a 5-4 lead. After Torres walked, stole second and advanced to third on the throwing error to center by catcher Austin Wynns, Voit jolted his second home run of the game, another two-run tater, this time to right-center. Carroll hadn’t allowed a home run all season at any level prior to this game.

If you want to have some fun, the first baseman who replaced Wally Pipp was none other than Henry Louis Gehrig. “Louis” was locked in on Friday night.

ZACH AT HOME

Returning to Baltimore, Zach Britton was given the first shot at filling the void of injured closer Aroldis Chapman. Britton allowed a single to Adam Jones but erased him on a double play ball to Trey Mancini. The double play was big as the .169 hitter Davis somehow had a three-hit evening, taking Britton yard to center for a solo shot. Yet, Britton was able to get Tim Beckham to fittingly ground out to Voit to finish off the O’s.

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GAME 2

Quality and quantity, the Yankees received plenty of both from the mound and at the plate in their 10-3 victory over the Orioles.

QUICK DRAW

It didn’t take the Yankees long to scratch across a run against Baltimore starter Jimmy Yacabonis. During the first frame, Stanton walked and advanced to third on a double to center by Hicks. An RBI groundout by Andujar posted New York to a 1-0 advantage.

HAPPER IS DAPPER

Following a hiccup in the second stanza, where J.A. Happ surrendered a two-run single to Renato Nunez, Happ would settle in an hold down the O’s. For the third time, this season Happ whiffed nine Orioles hitters. On his ledger, Happ yielded those two runs on five hits and one walk in six innings of work. It was yet another quality outing for Happ, who improved to 5-0 as a Yankee, tying “Bullet” Bob Turley as the last Yankee with a 5-0 start with the club.

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BIG POPPA, BIG BOPPA

When the third inning rolled around, the Bronx Bombers busted out the longball. Hicks tied the game at two with an RBI-single to right. Following that up was Andujar going to the downs for home run No. 21 on the campaign. The rookie blast to center posted the Yankees to a 5-2 lead.

YARDY BIRD

An inning later, Brett Gardner tomahawked a two-run tater to right, equaling his jersey number in home runs on the campaign. Gardner’s shot off Ryan Meisinger, increased the New York lead to 7-2.

CONTRIBUTIONS APLENTY

Also chipping in and getting in on the act for the Yankees were Voit, Shane Robinson and Luis Cessa. Voit collected an RBI-single in the fifth inning. Robinson collected a pair of hits and scored a pair of runs. Cessa as the “26th man,” gave the bullpen a breather with three frames to close it out for his first save.

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GT PHONE HOMER

During the eighth inning, Torres said, don’t forget about my impressive rookie season! Torres smacked a solo shot to left off Sean Gilmartin, for home run No. 19 on the season.

HICKS TO THE STICKS

Placing the cherry on top was Hicks in the ninth. Hicks hammered a first-pitch slider off Wright Jr. to right for home run No. 21 on the year. It capped off an afternoon which saw Hicks finish a triple shy of the cycle.

GAME 3

Well, it happened. The Yankees finally swept a doubleheader from the Orioles. The 5-1 victory produced another winning campaign for the Bronx Bombers, running their streak of consecutive winning seasons to 26 consecutive, dating back to 1993. The streak is the second longest in baseball to the Yankees of 1926-64, who accomplished the feat for 39 consecutive seasons. This current run also ranks fourth overall among the “big four” major sports.

SONNY DELIGHT

Sonny Gray was certainly much more aggressive in mixing his curveball, slider and fastball. Yes, it was the Norfolk Tides Orioles lineup but he was loose and confident and got the job done as well as any other Yankee starter this series. Gray worked scoreless 6.1 frames, whiffed seven, allowed three hits and one walk. It’s difficult to judge off one outing but it was encouraging nonetheless.

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EARLY OFFENSE STRIKES AGAIN

When one plays a team like Baltimore, psychologically it’s important to bury them early. Once again New York would strike in the first frame. Gardner set the table with a ground-rule double to center off Andrew Cashner. Stanton followed with a walk. Hicks, the ensuing batter, plated Gardner with an RBI-single to right, providing the Yankees with a 1-0 lead.

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In the second inning, singles by Torres, Romine and Torreyes, loaded the bases. A one-out, wild pitch by Cashner, enabled Torres to scamper home and double the advantage to 2-0. Gardner was able to reach on a fielder’s choice, plating Romine for a 3-0 lead.

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During the fourth, with one down, Romine reached on a single to right. Torreyes reached safely after an error on the first baseman Mancini. Gardner followed by grounding into a force out. Yet, Stanton would come through with an RBI-single to the wall in right, making it 4-0.

KEEP ON RO-LLING

Adding more insurance in the ninth, Romine increased his career-high home run total to nine, hammering a 0-1 sinker from Miguel Castro to left-center.

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THE DELLI BEST

After Jonathan Holder picked up Gray and worked a flawless eighth, Tommy Kahnle was brought on in the ninth but yielded a run before he could record the final out. Dellin Betances was summoned and made quick work of the Orioles, fanning Caleb Joseph for the final out and the save. The strikeout marked 33 consecutive relief appearances of recording a whiff, breaking the AL mark held by Jeff Montgomery of the 1989 Kansas City Royals. It was a tight spot to keep the record going but Betances was able to break the record.

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GAME 4

Yet again the Yankees jumped out to an early advantage and ultimately rode that to a 5-3 victory.

HOT HAND LUKE

In the second stanza, Voit was at it again, destroying a first-pitch fastball from Dylan Bundy. The two-run tater to right-center was No. 4 on the season and staked the Bronx Bombers to a 2-0 advantage. Voit would finish with a three-hit evening and score the Yankees’ fifth run on a wild pitch in the sixth.

AN-DU-BLE-JAR

During the fourth frame, Andujar smoked a two-run double to right, doubling the New York lead to 4-0. Andujar would also record a three-hit night.

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SEVY SHOWS PROGRESS

It wasn’t as long as his first-half outings but a move in the right direction toward a dominant Luis Severino. Severino was a Torres error at shortstop away from finishing off six innings. In 5.2 frames, Severino whiffed eight, yielded three runs, two earned, on four hits and two walks. A sac fly to Villar in the fifth and a solo home run to Mancini in the sixth accounted for most of the damage.

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With Chad Green on, a single by Renato Nunez, a wild pitch and RBI-single by former Yankee Jace Peterson, gave Baltimore its third run in the sixth.

From there, Green, Britton and Robertson were able to provide scoreless ball in the final three frames.

ON DECK

At 83-47, the Yankees return home to Yankee Stadium to host the Chicago White Sox for a three-game series starting Monday evening.

Pitching probables, Carlos Rodon vs. Masahiro Tanaka, James Shields vs. Lance Lynn, Reynaldo Lopez vs. CC Sabathia.