The New York Yankees made quick work of the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night at the Stadium -- final score 7-2, Will Warren was magnificent, and the second inning settled just about everything.
Ben Rice hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the second -- his 11th of the year -- and the Yankees led 5-1 after two innings. That was the ballgame. The Yankees improved to 21-11, the best record in the American League, and took Game 1 of a four-game series they very much control.
The Second Inning Was Where It Happened
Pete Alonso came into this one as a storyline. (He's a Baltimore Oriole now -- the Mets didn't bring him back after last season, he signed in Baltimore, and his first trip back to New York wasn't exactly a homecoming parade.) He made it interesting fast: in the top of the second, Alonso drove a Warren pitch to the second deck in right field, his fifth homer, tying it at 1-1. A Stadium crowd of 41,239 acknowledged it with the polite respect you give an opposing player who just ruined your momentum. Then the Yankees went to work.
Caballero answered in the bottom of the second with a solo shot -- his fourth homer -- making it 2-1. Then Rice came up with two outs and Grisham on second, Goldschmidt on first, got a 1-0 pitch from Cade Povich, and hit it to right-center. Hard. Grisham scored. Goldschmidt scored. Rice rounded the bases. 5-1 Yankees.
Win probability moved 21 points on that one swing. Povich left after four innings, having given up five earned runs on seven hits. He's 1-1 on the year, and Baltimore's rotation has some questions to answer.
Warren Was in a Different Gear
You want the line: 6.1 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), 1 walk, 9 strikeouts. ERA goes to 2.39. He's 4-0 on the season.
Warren's not a flamethrower -- he's precise, he changes speeds, and he doesn't fall behind hitters. Friday night, Gunnar Henderson went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Adley Rutschman went 0-for-4. Taylor Ward went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. (Ward had a night. That's the polite way to put it.) The only real damage against Warren was Alonso's solo shot, and outside of that, he was in complete control through six-plus.
Fernando Cruz came on in the seventh with a runner on and retired Beavers on a groundout -- though Alonso scored on the play to make it 5-2. Jake Bird handled the eighth. Camilo Doval closed with two strikeouts in the ninth. Three-hit shutout, by committee. It doesn't always have to be pretty.
Judge, Bellinger, and the Rest
Cody Bellinger got things going with a sharp line drive double in the first that scored Judge from first. Judge finished 2-for-3 with two walks, scored twice, and added an RBI single in the eighth to score Austin Wells and push it to 7-2. He was in the middle of things all night without needing to hit a homer to prove it.
Amed Rosario added a line-drive RBI single in the seventh that scored Judge again to make it 6-2 -- a two-out hit with the game already in hand, but still a clean at-bat from a guy who's been quietly solid.
Caballero had his homer and a run scored, playing his typically composed shortstop the whole way. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was on base twice. This lineup doesn't need everyone to go off -- it just needs enough contributors to keep the pressure on. (Friday, it had them.)
The Series Ahead
Yankees are 21-11. Rays are 19-12. The AL East race is real, and the Yankees are in front.
Baltimore is 6 games back and needs this series. After Friday, they're 0-for-1 on that.
Three more at the Stadium.
Jimmy writes the Bronx Pinstripes game recap after every Yankees game. Beat-reporter pacing, fan's heartbeat. He calls opposing players by last name and has no patience for dead-air innings.
