BRONX — And that’s why the Yankees pay Aaron Judge the big bucks.
Judge hit the game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth and Anthony won the game for the Yankees in the bottom of the 10th as New York took the series opener 6-5 at Yankee Stadium. The victory extended their win streak to five games.
Judge helped keep the game alive in the bottom of the ninth when he hit a solo home run to left field to tie the game at five. The Yankee captain belted an 0-2 splitter 403 feet for his 14th home run of the season, which tied him for third-most in the majors.
It was also Judge’s first career home run that tied the game in the ninth inning or later, according to Katie Sharp.
Volpe drove the winning run in off a sac fly to deep center field that scored Isiah Kiner-Falefa from third. The Orioles opted to intentionally walk Willie Calhoun in order to pitch to the Yankees’ rookie shortstop.
“(Bryan) Baker is really good but typically is not a ground ball guy and I think Anthony just (had) the right approach there,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Middle of the diamond, get the ball in the air, get something that can elevate and just put a really good swing on it. The right swing and we’re able to get one tonight. They take the lead with that bullpen and we’re able to scratch and get into it. Just a really good team.”
Volpe made an impressive defensive play the inning before to save a hit and end the inning. The New Jersey native made a leaping grab on a hard-hit ball off the bat of Adam Frazier.
“I want the opportunity and I was excited,” Volpe said about the chance to win the game.
Yankees starter Gerrit Cole threw five innings against Baltimore on Tuesday night, when he recorded his 2,000th career strikeout. Cole finished the night with two strikeouts while giving up five runs on six hits and two home runs.
It marked the third time in his last four starts that Cole allowed two home runs.
New York moved to 30-20 on the season and it was their third win in four games this season against the Orioles. The Yankees had entered the night a season-high nine games over .500.
“Just the confidence in this team. I think there’s a confidence in each other knowing that we’re gonna pick each other up,” Judge said. “It’s been fun to be a part of and it just makes it easy when you have to step up to the plate and especially like Volpe in that situation. He’s stepping up there knowing that ‘hey, I got a chance to win this game but he didn’t try to do too much.'”
The Orioles got on the board early in the series opener, putting up two runs in the first inning. After Cole walked two Baltimore batters with two outs, a line drive to right by Adam Frazier went just beyond the reach of a diving Aaron Judge allowing Frazier to reach second and Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle to score.
Baltimore made it a three-run lead in the top of the third when Cedric Mullins took Cole’s four-seam fastball to right field for a solo home run. Cole got out of the rest of the inning without giving up a run, but the Orioles took him deep again in the top of the fourth.
With two outs, Gunnar Henderson sent a change-up 404 feet into center field to make it 4-0 Orioles.
The Yankees managed to chip away at the Baltimore lead in the bottom half of the inning when they got one run back. Harrison Bader homered on the second pitch of the inning to cut make it a 4-1 Orioles lead as he recorded his fifth home run of the season.
The Yankees continued their comeback in the following inning when they tied the score up at four. After Oswaldo Cabrera and Gleyber Torres each singled to get on base to start the bottom of the fifth, two batters later Anthony Rizzo doubled on a sharp line drive to right to drive home Cabrera.
Rizzo had 15 RBIs in his last 15 games after his run-scoring double in the fifth.
The Orioles’ lead was cut to one when DJ LeMahieu hit an RBI single between short and third to score Torres. Bader, who started the comeback with a home run in the third, tied the game up at four when he hit a sac fly to left field.
The game had been tied at four when the Bombers’ starter came out of the game in the top of the sixth inning. Cole allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach base before manager Aaron Boone called upon reliever Ron Marinaccio to get out of the jam.
Marinaccio gave up a one-out single to load the bases and Baltimore regained the lead when Terrin Vavra grounded out to first base, but the play allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate.
