Neil Walker's tiebreaking homer in 10th, Luke Voit's second two-run shot lift Yankees
BALTIMORE — Statistical oddities are a part of any baseball season.
In 2018, there have been none odder than this one: Entering Friday, the Yankees, who have the second-most wins in the sport, had done no better than split 12 games against a team that began the day 52 games out of first place.
It was a dogfight, but the Yankees inched a game over .500 against Baltimore with a 7-5, 10-inning victory in front of 27,150 at Camden Yards.
Neil Walker hit a tiebreaking homer in the 10th off Cody Carroll, whom the Yankees included in a three-prospect package when they acquired Zach Britton from the Orioles at the trade deadline. Luke Voit, who started at first base in place of the slumping Greg Bird, pounced on the chance, hitting a pair of two-run homers. The second gave the Yankees a 7-4 lead, which proved important when Chris Davis homered in the bottom of the inning.
Voit, who had three hits, was serenaded with a loud “Luuuuuuke” from the sizable contingent of Yankees fans as he rounded the bases after homer No 2, which gave him the first multi-homer game of his career. The Yankees acquired Voit and international pool money from the Cardinals on July 28 in exchange for Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos.
In a twist, with Aroldis Chapman on the disabled list, Britton earned the save against his former team. The lefty allowed a two-out homer to Davis — who had three hits and three RBIs after entering the game with a .163 batting average and 158 strikeouts — but still picked up his first save as a Yankee.
The Yankees (80-47), now 7-6 against the Orioles (37-91), inched within 8 ½ games of the AL East-leading Red Sox, who lost to the Rays in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Gleyber Torres, whose error in the bottom of the seventh opened the door for the Orioles to take a 4-2 lead on Jonathan Villar’s two-out, two-run homer off David Robertson, redeemed himself with a bases-loaded single in the eighth that drove in two runs and tied it at 4-4.
Giancarlo Stanton opened the eighth against Mike Wright Jr. with his third walk of the night. Paul Fry retired Aaron Hicks on a pop-up, but Miguel Andujar dumped a single to center and Walker singled to left to load the bases for Torres.
The rookie, who has mostly slumped since returning from the DL in late July but entered the game in an 8-for-24 stretch, lined a soft single to right. Stanton scored easily and Andujar was safe on a close play at the plate in which he banged into catcher Austin Wynns, who couldn’t get a handle on the ball. Ronald Torreyes later popped up with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Dellin Betances gave up a pair of singles in the bottom of the eighth but recorded two strikeouts to escape the jam.
CC Sabathia, activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, allowed two runs in the first inning but followed that with five scoreless innings. The lefthander allowed two runs, nine hits and two walks, striking out eight.
Baltimore righthander Alex Cobb came in 4-15 with a 5.09 ERA but had a 2.03 ERA in six previous starts since the All-Star break. He allowed two runs and three hits, one of them a two-run homer by Voit that tied it at 2-2 in the fourth, in six innings.
The Yankees stranded two in the first. Stanton walked with one out and Andujar lined a two-out single to center. Centerfielder Cedric Mullins booted the ball, allowing both runners to advance. Cobb, however, struck out Walker swinging at a 92-mph fastball to end the 24-pitch inning.
Sabathia immediately faced trouble in the bottom half, a 25-pitch inning. He allowed a leadoff single by Mullins, who banged a 1-and-2 cutter back up the middle. Jonathan Villar then pushed a bunt toward the right side, and Voit vacated his position to pursue the ball. Second baseman Ronald Torreyes fielded it and had to eat the ball with first base uncovered. Adam Jones’ flyout to center moved both runners up and Trey Mancini walked to load the bases for Davis, who came in hitting .163 with 158 strikeouts. Davis ripped an 0-and-2 slider to right for a two-run single, but Sabathia preserved the 2-0 deficit by striking out Tim Beckham and Renato Nunez.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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