Nunez, Orioles top Yanks, win season-opening series
ORIOLES 7 YANKEES 5
NEW YORK — Renato Nunez, Trey Mancini and Joey Rickard hit Baltimore’s first home runs of the year and the Orioles started strong at Yankee Stadium, beating New York 7-5 Sunday in a game delayed more than three hours by rain.
Coming off a 115-loss season under Buck Showalter, the Orioles and new manager Brandon Hyde opened by taking two of three from the 100-win Yankees. Baltimore hadn’t won two in a row since August.
DJ LeMahieu hit an RBI single with two outs in the Yankees ninth off Mychal Givens. Paul Fry relieved with two on and two outs and struck out pinchhitter Troy Tulowitzki for his first save.
Nunez hit a threerun drive into the bleachers in the first inning and Mancini made it 4-0 in the third. J.A. Happ (0-1) never settled in — the first pitch was held up by rain for 3 hours, 17 minutes, and it was 47 degrees and windy when the game began.
Only a couple thousand fans were left in the seats when it ended almost four hours later.
John Means (1-0) replaced shaky starter Dylan Bundy and got the win in his second major league game. The 25-year-old lefty struck out five in 3 1/3 innings, keeping the Yankees guessing with changeups and breaking balls.
After Gary Sanchez homered off Means in the seventh to pull the Yankees within 5-4, Rickard connected for a two-run homer in the eighth off Stephen Tarpley.
Givens made a throwing error that helped the Yankees load the bases in the eighth, but he retired Luke Voit on a grounder to escape.
Bundy had an uneven outing a year after he tied for the most losses in the majors (16) and set a franchise record by serving a big league-high 41 home runs. He struck out seven, walked five and gave up two hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Means relieved with the bases loaded and walked Brett Gardner in an 11-pitch at-bat, making it 4-1. Aaron Judge followed with a tworun single before Means, hit hard at Fenway Park last September in his only previous major league appearance, found his rhythm.
A decent number of fans weathered the delay and stuck around for the start. Their biggest cheers in the early innings came when the sun broke while Judge batted and after Gleyber Torres captured a plastic bag that was blowing around the infield.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: Chris Davis was back in the lineup, a day after sitting out vs. LHP James Paxton. The slumping slugger went 0 for 3 after striking out in all three atbats in the opener.
Yankees: RHP Dellin Betances (shoulder) threw a bullpen session Saturday and will throw one more before facing hitters on the side.