Orioles set division series record, beating Yankees 17-5 (updated)

NEW YORK – Ryan Mountcastle retreated to second base, turned toward the visitors’ dugout and clenched his fist with enough force to flatten a bull.

Finally a punch was thrown in the series. It landed squarely.

The Orioles held their composure for three games. They got hit and took their base. They didn’t get drawn into a fight or a war of words, but they didn’t back down in a hostile environment against the first-place team in their division.

They sent 12 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored six runs to extend their early lead. The loss came at the hands of Luis Gil, who began the day with the lowest ERA in the American League. No one is immune.

With a 17-5 victory, the Orioles moved within half a game of the Yankees and set a major league record by winning or tying 22 consecutive division series.

Anthony Santander scored his 19th.^th Homer, a three-run hit by left-hander Tim Hill in the fifth inning that increased the lead to 11-3. All Orioles except Austin Hays reached base until the second inning.

Hays got his chance in the sixth when Ron Marcinaccio hit him with a pitch – the fourth Oriole hit in the last two days. Perhaps the Yankees are still thinking about teams after the two hits in the opener.

Cedric Mullins hit a two-run homer in the second inning, his first since April 26. Gil loaded all the bases and Mountcastle cleared them with a double into the left field corner. Gil loaded them again and missed Jordan Westburg, who started the same inning with a single after returning from a left hip contusion.

Gil scored a career-high seven runs on eight hits in 1 1/3 innings, raising his ERA to 2.77. He allowed one run or fewer in eight of his last nine starts before today.

Back in Baltimore, Gil shut out the Orioles on two hits in 6 1/3 innings. They hadn’t scored against him in 12 1/3 innings.

In the Bronx he was their speed bag.

“Going into a series against (Nestor) Cortes, (Gerrit) Cole and Gil, you know it’s going to be a tough series and we’re really proud of our guys for winning that series,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “The way we came out today and swung the bat was unbelievable. So many hard-hit balls early on. Just really, really good at-bats.”

That often happens to a team’s top players. The Orioles scored eight runs against the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler on Sunday, and the four home runs were a career high.

“It’s just a testament to the guys we have here and the way we play,” Gunnar Henderson said. “It doesn’t matter what happens. It seems like we always go out there and do our best and just try to win games.”

Henderson hit Gil’s first pitch of the game at 110.4 mph to right field and Juan Soto missed, turning it into a double. Henderson extended his hitting streak to 13 games, a career high, and scored with two outs on Ryan O’Hearn’s single to center.

O’Hearn entered this month with a batting average of .354/.392/.563. He has a hit in 10 of his last 11 games against the Yankees.

“I don’t know what it is,” O’Hearn said. “I see the ball really well here. Even though it’s hard to ignore the short porch, I try to convince myself it’s not there. When the ball is in the air, whatever happens, happens.”

The Orioles were just warming up on the 90-degree day. They scored in eight of nine innings, and the 17 runs were their most since an 18-5 win over Cleveland on June 6, 2021. This is the third time in club history that they scored at least 17 runs against New York.

They collected six hits and two walks in the second and loaded the bases again in the third against Michael Tonkin with walks to Henderson and Mountcastle sandwiched between Adley Rutschman’s double. O’Hearn hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

“He’s got great stuff and we knew that,” O’Hearn said of Gil. “He got us at home last time. But I think we just had a good game plan to make sure we got him in the zone. Playing low line drives and getting the ball back to the next guy and not trying to hit home runs. Just trying to keep the line moving. And we’ve got good hitters that know how to control and are obviously very motivated to win the deciding game against a very good team. We’re chasing them in this division and obviously the guys are highly motivated today and ready to go. It was really fun to be a part of.”

Henderson had a ground ball in the sixth inning that scored Hays and gave him a 12-5 lead. In his first four at-bats, he managed doubles, singles, walks and doubles – a reminder of the Orioles’ last visit here last summer, when he hit two home runs and was 4-for-4 after the fourth inning.

“You look forward to games like this when you have so many runs,” said Henderson. “Towards the end of the game you have to take a breather. It was really fun.”

Cole Irvin lasted only 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs, but the Orioles improved to 49-25. They have one fewer loss than the Yankees (51-26).

Gleyber Torres hit a solo home run with two outs in the second inning, and Aaron Judge marked his return to the lineup with a two-run shot with two outs in the third inning – 110.6 mph off the bat before the ball reached the right-center field seats.

The Yankees scored twice in the fifth inning, with Judge finishing off Irvin with an RBI single after 84 pitches.

“Just one of those days where I didn’t feel so good,” Irvin said. “I didn’t feel like I had my stuff. I should have come further. I’m disappointed in myself and my performance today. The bullpen definitely could have used a little break, and gosh, I let them down today. But the offense lifted me up. Great team win.”

Henderson and Colton Cowser were hit last night. Cowser was out of the lineup today but was able to play. The crowd was more reserved when Westburg was hit because it forced another run. No one seemed to react to Hays being hit.

The Orioles’ only retaliation was to keep scoring. Hays hit a home run into the Orioles’ bullpen in the seventh inning, a two-run shot off Victor González. O’Hearn continued his offense with a two-run single in the eighth inning.

“Yeah, I’m really proud of our team,” Hyde said earlier in the day. “It was a pretty emotional game last night, a lot happened. I think we kept our composure really well. I think we’ve done that the last two nights, honestly. We played to win, and that showed for me last night. The maturity we showed, the composure and the hard-fought win.”

The players stood at the railing whenever an injury occurred, as if ready to spring into action, letting the batter’s reaction dictate their next move.

“I think it depends on who you have in the dugout,” Hyde said. “I’ve been in some loud dugouts, I’ve been in some quieter dugouts. Anytime someone gets hit, there’s a certain level of attention that everyone notices, and the reaction might have something to do with it.”

“We’re just going to go out there and play our game,” Henderson said. “It’s just a testament to our guys. We’re just going to play our game and try to win the games.”

“Really proud of our guys,” O’Hearn said. “We don’t buy into the outside noise too much and stuff like that. We just know that when the game starts, it’s all about the game. We’ve got a lot of tough, competitive players that just show up and bust their asses and work hard every time they get a shot. I think we did that really well in this series: blocking out the outside noise and focusing on our job, and that was to come here and win a series.”

The Orioles used six relievers last night, but they didn’t bring in a rookie tonight. They talked about it.

“We talk about it every night,” Hyde said.

Bryan Baker threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his first win since July 24, 2023. Keegan Akin retired all six batters he faced, and Nick Vespi retired the team in order in the ninth inning.

Jose Trevino was the ninth inning pitcher for the Yankees. He normally plays catcher. Mountcastle hit a single with the bases loaded and Mullins scored. Rutschman got a walk and reached base for the fifth time.

The Orioles boarded their charter flight to Houston, where Grayson Rodriguez and Corbin Burnes will start the first two games, the two best members of a struggling rotation that didn’t need them in the Bronx.

“I don’t know if we thought we had to show up and prove something,” O’Hearn said. “We know we’re in a tough stretch where we don’t have a lot of days off and we’re playing really good teams, and we knew we had to show up and play. I think we can obviously compete with anybody in this league, and we showed that today.”

“I don’t know what kind of statement we’re making,” Hyde said. “I know teams think we’re a good team and our record shows that. And the way we’ve played against our division. The way we’ve played baseball the last couple of years, everybody knows. So we’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”