Rain a Tougher Opponent Than Orioles

The Yankees began what was intended as a 4-game series in Baltimore against the Orioles, but the weatherman was the real winner, as the Thursday night game was pushed back to Saturday afternoon, the 1st half of a day/night doubleheader. But only 1 of the Saturday games could be played, due to the weather, making for a Sunday day/night doubleheader. And then, both of those games were postponed.

They did manage to get a game in on Friday night. To alter the Sesame Street theme song, Sonny Gray was not sweeping the clouds away. He gave up a 1st inning home run to possible Yankee free agent target Manny Machado in the 1st inning, and #YankeesTwitter had a collective conniption, calling Gray every name in the book. But he allowed only 4 more baserunners over his last 5 1/3rd innings.

Gleyber Torres singled home Neil Walker to tie the game in the top of the 4th. In the 5th, Brett Gardner hit an infield single to short, then stole 2nd. Aaron Judge flew out, but Greg Bird cracked a long drive to center field that went for a triple. 2-1 Yankees. Austin Romine doubled home a run in the 6th. 3-1 Yankees.

Chad Green ran into trouble in the 7th, but worked out of it. Dellin Betances loaded the bases with 1 out in the 8th, but also got out of it. For once, Aroldis Chapman decided to end the 9th inning quickly rather than fool around, and struck out the side.

Yankees 3, Orioles 1. WP: Gray (4-4). SV: Chapman (13). LP: Cashner (2-7).

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Masahiro Tanaka started the only game that was played on Saturday. As so often happens with him, he gave up a home run in the 1st inning. As so often happens in Yankees-Orioles games, Adam Jones hit a home run for the Orioles. These happenings combined for a 1-0 Oriole lead.

But in the 2nd, the Yankees got a single from Aaron Hicks and a home run from Miguel Andujar, to make it 2-1 in their favor. In the 3rd, it was a single from Gardner and a home run from Giancarlo Stanton, making it 4-1.

The Orioles made it 4-2 in the bottom of the 3rd, but the Yankees struck back in the 6th. Stanton singled. He was forced out at 2nd on a ground ball by Gary Sanchez, but the throw back to 1st to complete the double play got away, and Sanchez reached 2nd. Didi Gregorius singled to score Sanchez, and a bad throw to the plate allowed him to reach 2nd. Then Hicks singled Didi home. 6-2 Yankees.

The Orioles made it 6-4 in the 6th, including another Machado home run, but the Yankees put it away in the 8th. Didi led off with a single, stole 2nd, and scored on a Hicks single. Then Andujar singled Hicks home.

David Robertson allowed a run in the 9th, but the O's could get no closer. Final score: Yankees 8, Orioles 5. WP: Tanaka (7-2). No save. LP: Kevin Gausman (3-5).