Holliday caps huge comeback
Yankees’ five home runs stun Orioles
By Jack O’Connell
If Friday night at Yankee Stadium is any indication, this could be quite a season series between the Yankees and the Orioles. The Yanks dropped two of three games in Baltimore earlier this month, but they displayed much resilience in their first meeting at the Stadium this year.
The Yankees combined quality late-inning relief pitching and home run power to overcome deficits of 9–1 in the sixth and 11–4 in the seventh to post a 14–11, 10-inning victory on Matt Holliday’s three-run homer, the 10th walk-off blast of his career.
Holliday’s third home run of the season came off Orioles lefthander Jayson Aquino, who asked for trouble by walking Aaron Hicks leading off the inning and Kyle Higashioka, who was sent up to bunt. I thought Chase Headley might be bunting, too, but he swung away throughout the at-bat and struck out before Holliday drilled Aquino’s first delivery to him into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center.
It did not take Didi Gregorius long to get back in the swing of things. The Yankees shortstop returned to the club Friday night after missing the first 20 games of the season because of a right shoulder strain he sustained playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
Gregorius got to touch the ball in the first inning with a throw to second base on a force play for the third out. In the second inning, he made a dazzling, back-handed play to throw out Wellington Castillo and in his first at-bat in the bottom half Gregorius got to run the bases by legging out a double to right-center.
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Such defense came in handy because CC Sabathia needed every fielding play he could get. The lefthander was roughed up for seven earned runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. Manny Machado was especially difficult to handle for Sabathia, who was stung for a single, a double and a home run by the Baltimore third baseman. Machado’s fourth home run of the season was no ordinary blow but a monster shot off the railing in front of the center field camera well above Monument Park.
Sabathia did not have to face Machado a fourth time. After another eye-opening play by Gregorius off a Jonathan Scoop grounder started the sixth inning, the Orioles staged a two-out rally beginning with a bunt single in which Sabathia stumbled to the ground trying to field it. Adam Jones followed with a single to center with Machado on deck.
Bryan Mitchell relieved Sabathia at that point. Wanting no part of Machad0 (and who could blame him?), Mitchell walked him on four pitches only to have Mark Trumbo crush a 1–1 pitch to left for a grand slam that pushed the Orioles’ lead to 9–1.
With temperatures in the mid-70s in the Bronx, it was not surprising to see so many balls clear the walls. And because of that, the blowout the Orioles thought they were achieving became a tight game in the latter innings. The Yankees trumped the home runs by Trumbo, Machado and Castillo with five of their own.
Aaron Judge, whose at-bats are becoming must-see events in Yankees games, went deep twice off Kevin Gausman with a solo shot to left in the fifth inning and a two-run bomb into the netting above Monument Park in the sixth. Statcast had the exit velocity of that second shot at 119.4 miles per hour, which is a record of sorts. I say that because exit velo is a relatively new statistic and was not in use when the likes of Frank Howard, Dick Allen, Dave Kingman and Jose Canseco among others were mashing balls into orbit.
The Orioles scored two more runs in the seventh but stranded the bases loaded. Jacoby Ellsbury had no intention of leaving the bags full in the bottom of the inning and connected off lefthander Vidal Nuno for his first career grand slam, which was also the center fielder’s 100th career home run.
Jonathan Holder and Tyler Clippard kept the Yankees close by setting down the Orioles in order in the eighth and ninth, respectively. Brad Brach, handling closing duties for the Orioles with Zach Britton on the 10-day disabled list, had not allowed a run this season, in 12 innings, but the Yanks put an end to that streak.
A leadoff walk to Headley and a single off the wall in right-center by Holliday put runners on first and third with none out. Ellsbury grounded into a fielder’s choice as Headley scored. Starlin Castro smashed Brach’s next pitch into the left field bleachers to tie the score.
