Yankees four-homer first inning carries them in destruction of Orioles
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.BALTIMORE — As it turned out, the Yankees’ back-to-back-to-back home runs to lead off the game were just the tip of the iceberg.The S.S.
Oriole, captained by Kyle Gibson, stood no chance of surviving.The Yankees clobbered the Orioles for five runs on four homers in the first inning and then kept piling on, going bombs away in a 15-3 obliteration of their AL East rivals on Tuesday night at Camden Yards.Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice led off the night with back-to-back-to-back jacks in a span of five pitches against Gibson, the veteran right-hander who was making his season debut.Rice added a second home run in the second inning on a night when the Yankees racked up 19 hits — six of them leaving the park — and conjured up recent memories from their 20-9 win over the Brewers back on March 29.They led off that bottom of the first with back-to-back-to-back homers on three pitches off Nestor Cortes.
That was also the first time in franchise history the Yankees belted four home runs in the first inning, and 31 days later they did it again.Carlos Rodón was not to be overshadowed, though, as the left-hander retired the first 15 batters he faced before allowing a walk and a double to lead off the sixth inning.He ended up pitching six strong innings in which he gave up two runs while striking out seven, his third straight quality start while lowering his ERA to 3.43.But Rodón’s primary objective on Tuesday was getting his teammates back into the dugout so they could tee off at the plate again.The Yankees ambushed Gibson for nine runs on 11 hits and two walks before he was mercifully pulled with two outs in the fourth inning.
They smoked seven balls off the bat at 100 mph or harder against the 37-year-old that the Orioles signed in March because they did not do enough to address their rotation in the offseason.The ...