BALTIMORE—The Orioles hosted ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” for the first time in five years and it was a rousing success. They scored nine runs, seven in the first inning and beat the New York Yankees 9-3 before 37,429 at Oriole Park. The three-game series drew 114,816.
The Orioles (64-41) took two of three from New York, winning the season series from them for the first time since 2016. They maintain a 1 ½ game lead over Tampa Bay in the American League East.
They’ll travel to Toronto for four games beginning Monday night, and wait to see if they add any players before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trading deadline.
The evening began with that seven-run first inning by the Orioles against Luis Severino. Six runs scored before an out was made. It’s the first time the Orioles have done that since July 18th, 2017.
“We found a couple of holes early and it kind of snowballed from there,” Adam Frazier said. “We’re capable of that every night. We need to make it happen more often.”
Frazier had a three-run home run, his 13th, Ryan O’Hearn, a two-run double and a run-scoring double by Anthony Santander and an RBI single by Adley Rutschman.
“Any time you take a season series from anybody, it’s great,” Frazier said. “I feel like it was a lot of close games with those guys. They never stop fighting even though we put that big lead in the first. I feel like we had to keep going.”
Rutschman batted leadoff for the second straight game. He had three hits and walked.
“I haven’t done it since my sophomore year in high school,” Rutschman said. “Just trying to take the same [at-bats]. There’s a mental stigma behind batting in different positions. I’m trying to do the same exact thing. …I just try to show up and just do what they tell me.”
In the fourth, Gunnar Henderson had an RBI double and O’Hearn an RBI single.
In Brandon Hyde’s first four seasons as Orioles manager, they went just 20-47 against the Yankees. They won seven of 13 games this season.
“A little more competitive roster, so that makes it nice,” Hyde said. “It’s a little bit more fair fight than it has been in the past, so we’re able to pitch to them, and we didn’t in the past, and we’re able to score some runs, and we had a tough time in the past. We’re a lot more talented than in my first few years here, so it’s a little more fair.”
Severino (2-5) has had two awful starts against the Orioles this season. He gave up nine runs on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. On July 6th, he allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Dean Kremer, who was staked to a large lead, was pulled after throwing 90 pitches. He allowed three runs on seven hits in four-plus innings.
“They’re a very disciplined team. They don’t chase out of the zone very often,” Kremer said. “They just kind of wore me down after a few innings.”
Mike Baumann (8-0) relieved Kremer and pitched a scoreless inning.
Shintaro Fujinami, Danny Coulombe and Yennier Cano combined for four scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts. The Orioles struck out 18 Yankees, setting a franchise record for a nine-inning game. Anthony Rizzo struck out five times.
Rutschman and other players noticed the large crowds and fed off them.
“It’s the best. When it’s packed out and you hear the crowd getting into it, there’s no better feeling,” Rutschman said. “Everyone gets that much more excited and feels like the atmosphere that you dream about playing in, and it’s here.”
The Yankees (55-50) were playing without Aaron Judge. Manager Aaron Boone decided to rest Judge after he played the first two games of the series, the first games he’s played since suffering a sprained big right toe injury on June 3rd.
The Orioles are 16-9 in July and have had a winning record each month this season.
“I love the way our guys play. I think we’re really talented,” Rutschman said. “We play together. I’m excited to see what we can do.”
The Orioles were on national television twice this weekend. They were on FOX on Saturday night and ESPN on Sunday.
“I’m not thinking we’re on national TV,” Hyde said. “That’s not really the thought process during the game. The crowds have been unbelievable this weekend, and we really appreciate the energy in the ballpark and how much our fans have showed up this weekend to support us.”
Note: Baumann is the first Orioles reliever to win his first eight decisions since Grant Jackson in 1973. …The Orioles have gone nine consecutive series against AL East teams without losing one, their longest run since August 1st-September 30th, 2012 when they didn’t lose in 11 straight series. …Kyle Gibson (9-6, 4.68) faces Chris Bassitt (10-5, 3.91) on Monday night at 7:07 p.m.
Minor league update: Second baseman Joey Ortiz hit a three-run home run and first baseman Heston Kjerstad homered as Triple-A Norfolk beat Nashville 6-3.
Centerfielder Dontá Williams hit a two run home run in Double-A Bowie’s 6-5 loss to Somerset.
Jersey Shore swept a doubleheader from High-A Aberdeen, winning the first game of a doubleheader 4-3 and the second game 4-1.
Dylan Beavers had five hits in the doubleheader for the IronBirds.
Single-A Delmarva lost to Kannapolis 2-1.