NEW YORK — Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen pitched seven effective innings and Baltimore Orioles tied a season high with three home runs in a 6-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday.
Designated hitter Jimmy Paredes and first baseman Chris Davis hit first-pitch solo home runs off Yankees right-hander Chase Whitley (1-1). Left fielder Alejandro De Aza added a two-run homer and right fielder Delmon Young drove in two runs for Baltimore, which also had three home runs April 11 against Toronto.
Chen (1-1) started slowly with a 26-pitch first inning, but mostly cruised the rest of the way and picked up his first win since Sept. 15. He allowed one run and five hits, struck out seven and issued one walk.
Chen threw 76 of 106 pitches for strikes and struck out the side twice. In the third, he fanned catcher John Ryan Murphy, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and left fielder Brett Gardner on high fastballs. In the seventh, Chen struck out third baseman Chase Headley and shortstop Stephen Drew on fastballs before getting Murphy to swing at a slider in the dirt.
Tommy Hunter allowed an unearned run in the eighth but stranded two and kept the tying run on deck when second baseman Jose Pirela flied out. Darren O’Day put two on with one outs in the ninth and Zach Britton recorded two groundouts for his sixth save, with the final out being upheld following a brief replay review.
The Yankees lost for the fifth time in their last 18 games and did not get an effective outing from Whitley, who continued to struggle against Baltimore. After posting a 14.29 ERA against the Orioles, Whitley allowed five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Whitley struck out the side in the first and had five strikeouts against the first 10 hitters before Baltimore jumped ahead.
Paredes made it 1-0 by turning on a first pitch fastball and sending into the right field seats with one out in the third for his fifth home run and second of the series. Davis did the same with one out in the fourth for his seventh home run and two batters later De Aza sent a 2-2 slider into the right field seats for his second home run.
Baltimore added a run apiece in the fifth and seventh. Young singled in third baseman Manny Machado for a 5-0 lead in the fifth and doubled in Paredes for a 6-1 edge in the seventh.
A sacrifice fly by Murphy in the fifth and an RBI single by right fielder Carlos Beltran accounted for the New York runs.
NOTES: Baltimore INF Ryan Flaherty was held out of Saturday’s starting lineup after experiencing some left groin discomfort. Flaherty was activated from the disabled list Friday after being out since April 24 with a strained right groin. … Baltimore CF Adam Jones was in the lineup despite injuring his ribcage trying to make a leaping catch at the wall on a drive by New York DH Alex Rodriguez in the fifth inning. … The Yankees placed RHP Chris Martin on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow tendinitis and recalled RHP Branden Pinder from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. … Although RHP Adam Warren couldn’t get past the fifth inning Friday and has struggled giving the Yankees distance, manager Joe Girardi reiterated that he will remain in the rotation. … Both teams did not have on-field batting practice.