Yankees 10, Orioles 3: Andujar leads the way in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader

Good start to the doubleheader? Great start to the doubleheader. The Yankees hammered the Orioles 10-3 on Saturday afternoon. Fun fact: The Yanks are 7-3 in their last ten games against the O’s. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but trust me. They are. At 81-47, the Yankees are a season high 34 games over .500, and they’ve ensured they will not have their first losing season since 1992. There is no chance I’m going to write two full recaps in one day, especially on a Saturday, so let’s recap this one with bullet points:

• Four in the Third: The Yankees took a quick 1-0 first inning lead on a walk (Giancarlo Stanton), a double (Aaron Hicks), and a run-scoring fielder’s choice (Miguel Andujar). They really got to O’s starter Jimmy Yacabonis on the third. Shane Robinson (single) and Brett Gardner (walk) reached base to start the frame, then Hicks shot a run-scoring single to right, and my main man Andujar helicoptered a three-run home run into home bullpen beyond the center field wall, giving the Yankees took a 5-2 lead. Andujar is up to 59 extra-base hits on the season. Only 13 players have more. (No other rookie has more than 42 extra-base hits.)
• A Happ-y Afternoon: Five starts as a Yankee, five wins for J.A. Happ. He labored in the second inning because he couldn’t get his fastball in on righties, which led to two runs on a walk and three hits. Aside from that second inning, which elevated his pitch count, Happ was surgical, allowing only two soft singles in his other five innings. His final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K on 107 workmanlike pitches. Happ has a 2.37 ERA (3.55 FIP) in five starts and 30.1 innings since the trade. He has been exactly what the Yankees needed.
• Insurance Runs: The Yankees scored in the first, third, fourth, and fifth innings. Early and often. Gardner clocked a two-run home run to right in the fourth inning and Luke Voit (Luke Voit!) singled in a run in the fifth. Andujar and Gleyber Torres had singles earlier in the inning to set up Voit. Torres added a solo homer in the eighth — it was his first homer since August 6th, during the White Sox series in Chicago — and Hicks added a solo homer in the ninth. Ten runs on eleven hits and three walks. The Yankees went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
• Leftovers: Poor Stanton. What would’ve been his 300th career home run was robbed by rookie center fielder Cedric Mullins in the sixth inning. When he’s not getting walked, his dingers are getting robbed. Rough … three hits for Hicks and two apiece for Andujar, Torres, and Robinson (yes, really). Kyle Higashioka was the only Yankee who failed to reach base … 26th man Luis Cessa tossed the final three innings to get the save. He is the seventh pitcher with a save for the Yankees this year, if you can believe that. Only the second time since 1980 at least seven different pitchers recorded a save for the Yankees in a single season.

Here are the box score, video highlights, updated standings, and our Bullpen Workload page. The Yankees and Orioles will be back at it with the second game of this doubleheader at 7pm ET. Sonny Gray and Andrew Cashner are the scheduled starting pitchers for the nightcap.

Source: FanGraphs