Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and the thundering New York Yankees picked up right where they left off the previous night, steamrolling past the Baltimore Orioles 12-4 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.
Gardner homered twice from the leadoff spot and had his first four RBIs of the season. Austin Romine, the No. 9 batter, also went deep and knocked in five runs.
Judge, not to be outdone, clocked his latest colossal homer and scored four times as New York won its 14th in 17 games to boost the American League's best record to 15-7.
Michael Pineda (3-1) did not allow an earned run in 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight, and the Yankees knocked Baltimore out of first place in the AL East for the first time this season.
Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (1-1) got chased with one out in the fourth for the second consecutive start. The veteran right-hander was tagged for a season-high seven runs — six earned — and five hits with three walks.
In a series-opening slugfest Friday night, the Yankees hit five homers and rallied from eight runs down for a 14-11 victory capped by Matt Holliday's three-run shot in the 10th inning.
Less than 15 hours later, it was Gardner who got them going.
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Gardner, who began the day batting .188, sent Jimenez's second pitch into the second deck in right field for his seventh career leadoff homer. He added a three-run shot in the second to make it 5-0.
Romine hit a sacrifice fly in the second, a two-run single in the fourth and a two-run homer in the sixth, making him the first No. 9 batter with a five-RBI game for the Yankees since current manager Joe Girardi drove in seven runs during a 21-3 rout at Texas in August 1999.
Judge, the powerful rookie who entered tied for the AL lead in homers, socked his 10th of the year in the seventh inning, an opposite-field shot into the elevated bleachers beyond the right-center bullpen.
It was his third home run in two days and fourth in four games. Judge also walked twice and singled during a perfect afternoon at the plate.
Baltimore catcher Caleb Joseph hit a two-run homer in the ninth and clapped his hands as he rounded first — they were his first RBIs since Sept. 11, 2015, against Kansas City.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: All-Star closer Zach Britton (strained left forearm) is scheduled for another rehab outing Sunday with Double-A Bowie. On the 10-day disabled list since April 16, Britton needed 28 pitches to get two outs Friday for Bowie. He walked two and gave up a home run. ... RHP Chris Tillman (right shoulder bursitis) is slated to make his fourth minor league rehab start Tuesday, this time for Triple-A Norfolk. After that, he is expected to return to the big league rotation. Tillman, who has averaged 14 wins and 190 innings over the past four years, could make his season debut for Baltimore on May 7 at home against the Chicago White Sox.
UP NEXT
Baltimore LHP Wade Miley (1-1, 2.08 ERA) starts the series finale Sunday against rookie LHP Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 3.78). Miley had an unusual outing vs. the Yankees on April 9, when he walked seven in five shutout innings of one-hit ball.
