New York used its power to win the series opener in Baltimore on Thursday. Now, the injury-riddled Yankees will be looking to find more offense against a young Orioles team that’s struggled in the last few days when they meet in the second game of the series Saturday night.
The Yankees, who have 11 players on the injured list, got two homers from Gleyber Torres plus four hits and four RBI en route to an 8-4 victory in the series opener. New York finished with four homers to score its eight runs and ranked fourth in the American League with 10 homers after this contest.
The biggest blast may have been a three-run homer that Torres hit off of right-hander Mike Wright which gave New York a 5-4 lead in the fifth. After that, the Yankees never trailed again. They rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 in this game as the Baltimore bullpen fell apart, and the Orioles lost a second straight game.
Torres drove in four runs overall and had four hits. He finished the day with three extra-base hits and became the youngest New York player to do that since Joe DiMaggio did it on June 28, 1936 vs/ the St. Louis Browns.
Torres is 22 while DiMaggio was 21 at the time.
“Gleyber Day; it’s impressive,” Aaron Judge told the team’s web site. “He can use the whole field and uses it with power, especially for a guy who plays second and shortstop. It’s impressive what he can do at such a young age.”
Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit also homered, the latter being a three-run shot in the ninth that broke the game open.
The Orioles have gotten some good hitting from the top part of their lineup. Jonathan Villar (.333), Dwight Smith Jr. (.310) and Trey Mancini (.357) have come up with most of the big hits so far.
But Baltimore needs help from the lower part of the lineup, and that has yet to happen this season on a regular basis.
Chris Davis, who suffered through one of the worst seasons of all time last year, continues to have problems. The first baseman, who’s been batting seventh, struck out in all three at-bats Thursday and has started the season 0-for-17 with 11 strikeouts. He also was pinch-hit for late in the game Thursday, leading to cheers from the home crowd.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but at the same time I heard it a lot last year and rightfully so,” Davis said, per the team’s web site. “I said it before, I’ll say it again: I understand the frustration. Nobody is more frustrated than me. Especially on a day like today.”
Stretching back to last season, Davis is on a 1-for-54 (.019) slide with 31 strikeouts. The big question for the Orioles is how long are they going to wait for him to break out. His big contract is the big problem, and it could force the team into an uncomfortable choice shortly.
The Orioles have gotten some good work out of their starting pitching. Alex Cobb threw 5 2/3 strong innings Thursday but came away with a no-decision. Dylan Bundy (0-0, 7.36) gets the start Saturday after a no-decision vs. the Yankees on March 31.
Bundy was plagued by control problems in that game, his first start this season, He lasted just 3 2/3 innings but struck out seven with five walks and allowed three runs on two hits. Bundy has struggled vs. the Yankees in his career. He’s 2-5 with a 6.28 ERA against New York.
Happ (0-1, 9.00) started the March 31 game where Bundy pitched and allowed four runs on five hits in four innings as the Orioles won, 7-5. He has a career record of 7-7 with a 3.18 ERA vs. Baltimore.