As coaches in every sport will tell you “It’s hard to beat a team four times in a row”. Well that was the case for the Yankees on Thursday afternoon (5/23) in Baltimore, and even though it was hard, the Yankees still found a way to complete the 4 game sweep of the O’s with a thrilling 6-5 victory, in front of a packed crowd at Camden Yards.
The Yankees got off to a slow start, before their bats came alive and staked them to a big lead , before the bullpen gave it all back, only for the Yankees to rally in the 9th and win it.
Coming into this game, the Yankees were basically playing bully, as there two big sluggers Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez were given the day off.
The Yankees having mercy on the O’s continued, as they coincidentally loaded up the bases against Masahiro Tanaka, but only got one run on an RBI fielders choice by Richie Martin to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the second.
As for the Yankees bats, they were quiet early, before finally waking up in the 5th, as Clint Frazier went deep of O’s starter Dylan Bundy to tie the game at 1. Then in the 6th, with the bases loaded, and 2 outs , Gio Urshela stepped up to the plate and once again came up clutch for the Yankees, as he smashed a go-ahead 2 run single to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead.
In the 7th, Thairo Estrada singled, stole second, and then scored on an Austin Romine RBI single to put the Yankees up by 3, before Luke Voit went deep in the 8th to give the Yankees a commanding 5-1 lead.
As for the Yankees pitching thus far, Tanaka was sharp once again for the Yankees, as he went 6 innings of 1 run ball with 6 strikeouts, before Jonothan Holder gave pitched a scoreless 7th to keep Tanaka in line for his 4th win of the season.
But like I said before, the Yankees were basically doing everything they could to show Baltimore mercy in this one , as Jonathan Holder surprisingly came out for a second inning, and got hit hard, as the O’s cut it to 5-2 when Trey Mancini laced an RBI single into left, that knocked Holder out of the game, as Tommy Kahlene relived him.
One thing that Tommy has been doing well this season is stranding runners. But that wasn’t the case on Thursday, as he served up a game -tying 3 run blast to Renantendo Nunez to even the game at 5 in the 8th.
As shocking and deflating as that HR was to Yankees fans , they still had a chance to take the lead in the 9th inning, and only needing a run to do so, Boon emptied his bench.
It was Torres who was the first of the big boppers that Boone sent into the game, after O’s closer Michel Givens had struck out the first two batters of the 9th, and only needed one more to get out of the inning unscathed. But unfortunately for him, Torres worked a walk, which kept the inning going for another slugger off the bench in Sanchez, who lined a single to right that put runners on 1st and second with 2 outs , for DJ LeMahieu, who’s walk loaded the bases for Aaron Hicks.
Prior to this at bat, Hicks had been, 4 for 7 in his career vs Givens with 3 RBIS. But all that mattered now was this at bat, and with the count full and the crowd on their feet, Givens threw one low and outside of the strike zone that was an easy take for Hicks ,which gave him an RBI Walk that would give the Yankees a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th, where Zack Brittion came on and induced a game ending double play with a runner on 1st to complete the Yankees sweep of the Orioles with a 6-5 victory.
MVP: I have to say Gio Urshela, because where would the Yankees be without him? He came up big again for his team in this one.
SERIES MVP: Gleyber Torres
STATS TO KNOW:
The Yankees have won 5 in a row and 9 of their last 10.
The Yankees in this 4 game set vs the Orioles
43 Hits
20 Walks
35 Runs
13 Home runs
.299 BA (Batting average)
.382 OBP (On base percentage)
^^ Via ”Jomboy“ on Twitter.
The Yankees have now won 12 in a row at Camden Yards.
This is the 3rd time the Yankees have swept the O’S this season.
ROSTER MOVES:
The Yankees placed CC Sabathia on the 10 day DL, and recalled Nestor Cortez JR to fill in his roster slot.
SCOREBOARD WATCH:
Bosox and Rays win. So the Yankees are still 2 games up on the Rays and 5.5 up on Boston.
THOUGHTS:
Get the brooms out! This team just keeps finding ways to win it’s unbelievable! Great sweep everyone, and an unbelievable gritty win to finish it off! Onto Kandas City for the next series!
UP NEXT:
The Yankees (32-17) will head to Kandas City for a 3 game series against the Royals (17-32) beginning on Friday.
The Yankees will be deploying their “Opener” strategy, as Chad Green will take the hill for the Bombers, while Jakob Junis goes for the Royals.
Game time is 8:15PM.
Comments