New York Yankees Off To Best Start Since 2004 With Win Over O's (Highlights)
Apr 29, 2017; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner (11) celebrates with right fielder Aaron Judge (99) and first baseman Greg Bird (33) after hitting a home run in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Thanks to yet another all-around effort by the New York Yankees, they have taken their fourth series at home with a win over Baltimore.

  • Baltimore Orioles: 4 (14-8)
  • New York Yankees: 12 (15-7)
  • American League, FINAL, Box Score
  • Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
The New York Yankees didn’t fall victim to a comeback hangover from Friday night and defeated the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 12-4 on a sunny afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Brett Gardner, who entered play on Saturday batting .118 since April 12, got the party started for the Bombers by slapping his seventh career leadoff home run to right field off O’s starter Ubaldo Jimenez. The next inning, the longest-tenured Yankee smoked yet another home run, this time a three-run jack for his third career multi-home run game to make it 5-0, New York.



In the fourth inning, Austin Romine, who previously lifted a sac-fly to make it 3-0 before Gardner’s second homer, singled up the middle to score Aaron Judge from third and Greg Bird from second to extend the Yankees lead to 7-0.

On the other side, Michael Pineda continued his stellar season with eight strikeouts over 5.1 innings of work. He allowed two runs (none of them earned) on a throwing error by Chase Headley in the sixth to allow Manny Machado to score and Mark Trumbo, who scored the second run, to reach first.

In the bottom of the sixth, Romine wasn’t done with his fantastic day as he ripped a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth off former Yankee Vidal Nuno to make it 9-2 Yankees. The backup, who’s getting starting time with Gary Sanchez on the disabled list, became the first Yankee since Joe Girardi to register five or more RBIs from the ninth spot in the lineup.

It was starting to become a blowout, but what’s a blowout without a home run from Aaron Judge? None that the 6-foot-7 slugger wants to be a part of. In the bottom of the seventh, after a Didi Gregorius RBI double, Judge tied Jose Abreu and Trevor Story for the most home runs (10) in the month of April by a rookie with a two-run shot to center.

That gave the Yankees a 12-2 lead, which would be trimmed but not be relinquished by relievers Adam Warren and Tommy Lane, who secured the Yankees’ fourth-straight win by a score of 12-4.

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Double-Trouble: 

Gardner hit the first home run for the third time in his career (first since Sept. 12, 2015, against the Toronto Blue Jays) and it was also the third time a Yankees outfielder has gone yard twice in a single game here in 2017.

In comparison, New York didn’t see an outfielder hit two or more home runs in a single game at all in 2016 — the first time that happened since 1993 — and have already accomplished that feat three times in this year’s opening month.


Sprinting Out Of The Gate: 

At 15-7, the Yankees have matched their best 22-game start to the regular season since 2004, a year in which they made it to the American League Championship Series. Furthermore, they did not earn their 14th win of the 2016 season until May 12 and didn’t reach eight games over .500 until their 138th game when they reached the 73-65 mark on Sept. 7.

This Day In Yankees History: 

On April 29, 1995, Yankees’ legend Andy Pettitte made his major league debut in a relief appearance in Kansas City. The man who would end up with the most strikeouts in franchise history surrendered two runs on three hits in 0.2 innings of work.

What’s Next: 

The Yankees will go for the three-game sweep on Sunday against the Orioles and will send rookie southpaw Jordan Montgomery to the hill to get the job done.

Montgomery will make his fourth Major League in the series finale coming off his first career loss on April 23 despite giving up just two earned runs over six innings over work against the Pittsburgh Pirates.



Baltimore will counter with Wade Miley in order to avoid the sweep and falling two games back of first place in the American League. Miley faced the Yankees back on April 9 and didn’t allow a run on one hit over five innings of work. In four career games at Yankee Stadium, he owns a 4.70 ERA.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET and can be caught on the YES Network or on WFAN 660/101.9 FM. Tune into ESNY for complete pre and post game coverage as the Bombers try to extend their home record to 11-1.