Yankees sweep Orioles as homers by Luis Garcia Jr, Spencer Jones back Gerrit Cole

BALTIMORE — Gerrit Cole allowed one run in six innings and Luis Garcia Jr. and Spencer Jones homered as the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 6-1 victory on Thursday night.

The Yankees (72-55) earned their fourth straight victory and pulled within four games of AL East-leading Tampa Bay. They also moved four games ahead of third-place Boston.

Cole (7-6) allowed four hits, including a fifth-inning homer by Dylan Beavers, and a walk with eight strikeouts. Ryan Yarbrough pitched three perfect innings for his third save.

The Yankees received their 17th outstanding start in the last 21 games beginning July 28. In those 17 games, Yankees starting pitchers have a 1.14 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP.

The Orioles have dropped four in a row after briefly taking sole possession of the lead in the race for the final American League wild card.

Kyle Bradish (7-12) allowed three earned runs and eight hits in 5 2⁄3 innings. Baltimore also permitted a pair of unearned runs in the third.

With men on first and third and none out in that inning, second baseman Jackson Holliday fielded a tough grounder and threw to second, but shortstop Gunnar Henderson dropped the throw for an error as the Yankees took a 1-0 lead.

Bradish induced a double-play ball from Trent Grisham, but Ben Rice followed with an RBI single and Heliot Ramos doubled home a run to make it 3-0.

Beavers’ drive to right brought the Orioles within 3-1, but Garcia homered to right-center and Jones added another solo shot to left-center to chase Bradish in the sixth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. tripled home a run in the eighth.