The Yankees win the first game of the series against the Orioles 4-2 despite further injury concerns

The New York Yankees would host the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx for the first game of this three-game series, as the American League’s top two teams would face off for the second time this season. Their last meeting came in the last week of April when the Yankees traveled to Baltimore, but the Orioles quickly defeated them, winning three of four games. Hoping to extend their lead in the division, Nestor Cortes got the ball against Albert Suárez and the left-hander dominated for six innings and led the Yankees to victory.

Although this is a great victory for the Yankees, it also comes with a great shock, because Aaron Richter had to leave today’s game after being hit in the hand by a fastball from Albert Suárez. It wasn’t intentional, but the Yankees are holding their breath as the league’s best player could suffer a serious injury.

Nestor Cortes shines, Yankees wait for news on Aaron Judge

It’s hard to argue that anyone dominated today’s game more than Nestor Cortes, who pitched six innings of scoreless baseball against a strong Baltimore Orioles lineup. He struck out six batters, allowed no walks and allowed five hits in the game. Cortes didn’t allow a single extra-base hit and his ERA on the season dropped to 3.36. While the Yankees have had great starting pitchers, the comebacks of guys like Nestor Cortes have set the tone for the rotation.

Offensively, they were very productive in the first innings, with Anthony Volpe delivering a two-out hit in the second that gave them a 1-0 lead that they would never relinquish. In the following inning, a pitch hit Aaron Judge in the middle of a rally that saw them score two runs on a single by Giancarlo Stanton, and Gleyber Torres also caught a sacrifice fly.

Aaron Judge left the game in the following inning when Trent Grisham came in, but another part of that comeback was Ben Rice getting a hit in his MLB debut. He was taken out of the game on defense as DJ LeMahieu went to first base and solidified their infield with a lead.

A sacrifice fly by DJ LeMahieu in the fifth inning gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead, and the bullpen tried to secure the win. Michael Tonkin and Luke Weaver pitched scoreless innings, but Clay Holmes hit his first home run of the season in the ninth inning to give the Orioles some life. A two-run at-bat off the bat of renowned Yankee killer Anthony Santander got the Orioles within two in the ninth inning, but Holmes made it clear and sealed the deal.

The Yankees come off an ugly series at Fenway with a win to improve their season record to 51-24 with a one-game lead in the loss column and a 2.5-game lead in the American League East. Their star player, Gerrit Cole, will make his season debut tomorrow and they hope to win the series, but they will have to face young left-hander Cade Povich, who has been a highly rated talent in the Orioles organization.

As of this writing, the news on Aaron Judge is that he is getting MRIs and X-rays of his hand. There is no news on this as Aaron Boone has chosen not to release the results until the doctors can read them.