Thanks to a huge night by Aaron Hicks and quality start by Jordan Montgomery, the New York Yankees took the first of three against the Baltimore Orioles.
- Baltimore Orioles: 2 (31-28)
- New York Yankees: 8 (35-23)
- American League, FINAL, Box Score
- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
The New York Yankees took the first of three games against the Baltimore Orioles thanks primarily to a three-RBI game by Aaron Hicks and yet another quality start by rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
Baltimore struck first blood in the top of the first thanks to a two-run bomb by Jonathan Schoop with Chris Davis on board to give the O’s a 2-0 lead. The Yankees, who entered play with an 11-16 record when their opponent’s score first, would battle right back in the very next inning.
Second baseman Starlin Castro led off the inning with his 10th bomb of the season — a shot to center off starter Dylan Bundy to cut the lead in half. After Gary Sanchez doubled and Didi Gregorius got him to third on a fly ball, Chase Headley hit a sac fly to right field to knot the game at two apiece.
On the other side, Yankees’ starter Jordan Montgomery was putting together one of the better starts of his career. The rookie southpaw struck out a career-high eight batters and allowed just two runs over seven innings of work. Unfortunately, it seemed as though his offense would be unable to help him earn the win. That is until the hero of the night stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth.
On a 2-1 changeup from Bundy, Hicks crushed a ball into “The Judge’s Chambers” for his ninth home run of the season to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. He would eventually pad that lead with a three-run homer in the seventh to put the Yankees up by a score of 5-2.
Matt Holliday padded that lead with a RBI double later that same inning and Austin Romine added some insurance runs with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to secure what would be an 8-2 victory after teeing off on Stefan Crichton.
Hicks Found His Niche:
With a home run into “The Judge’s Chambers” in the bottom of the sixth and another in the bottom of the seventh, Aaron Hicks rounded the bases for the ninth and tenth time this season and lifted his RBI total to 34. That already put him over his homer and RBI total from 2016 — and it’s only June 9.
Gumby Power:
With seven strikeouts on the night for 24-year-old Jordan Montgomery, he moved his total strikeouts of 2017 to 61. That is good enough for the third-most strikeouts by a Yankees’ starter within his first 11 starts — second to only Masahiro Tanaka (88 in 2014) and Orlando Hernandez (72 in 1998).
This Day In Yankees History:
On June 10, 2002, Yankees’ rookie Marcus Thames hit his first career home run on the first pitch he sees off future Hall Of Famer Randy Johnson in the third inning of the eventual 7-5 Yankees win at Yankee Stadium.
What’s Next:
New York and Baltimore will square off in the middle game of this weekend series on Saturday night. Luis Severino will get the nod in what will be his 12th start of the 2017 season.
The 23-year-old will pitch is undefeated in each of his last six starts, going 2-0 with a
2.02 ERA (35.2IP, 8ER) in that span. Over his last four, Severino has allowed only four earned runs in 26.1 innings and is finally showcasing that “ace-like” abilities we all expected a year ago.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET and can be caught on FOX Sports 1 or on the radio at WFAN 660 AM/101.9 FM.