Smash in 9th gives Yanks 18th straight win over O’s

finish it off.

The Yankees (4-1) have now won 18 straight games over the Orioles and 17 straight here at the friendly confines of Camden Yards. In two hastily arranged games after the Marlins' COVID-19 outbreak scrambled both teams schedules, the Yankees hit five home runs over 18 innings.

Luke Voit had given the Yankees a 5-run lead in the first inning with his first career grand slam. Giancarlo Stanton had driven in his sixth run of the season in the first.

Gio Urshela worked a walk to lead off the ninth and DJ LeMahieu moved him over to second, before Judge crushed his homer. It was his third goahead home run in the ninth inning or later in his career.

“Judge he got in a really good count obviously and and really put in charge in one,” Boone said. “They did a good job of holding us down. We had a couple opportunities throughout the game to you know extend our lead and and and I felt like they made some really good pitches against us and then we're finally able to break through again there to finish it off. That was huge.”

J.A. Happ went through all of those ups and downs in just four innings. He lost his delivery early, giving up two home runs in the first two innings, and made adjustments to finish up his fourth and final inning strong.

Happ, who allowed a careerhigh 34 home runs in 2019, seemed to be reliving last season's nightmare early Thursday. Austin Hays led off the bottom of the first with a hard-hit single and scored when Hanser Alberto crushed a hanging, flat fastball to left center field. In the second, Happ issued a one-out walk to Pat Valaika before Rio Ruiz lined another fastball that hung high in the zone over the right-center field fence.

“To his credit, I thought he's settled in and I actually thought his stuff improved, as the game went on, and I thought he settled in the third and fourth inning,” Boone said.

Happ struggled to get out of the second, giving up a two-out walk to Hays before getting Alberto to strike out swinging on a 92 mile an hour four seamer with Jonathan Holder getting hot in the bullpen.

But just as suddenly as he lost it, Happ re-discovere. He retired the next six out of seven hitters and go through in four innings.

GLEYBER HIT, LEAVES GAME

Gleyber Torres was with a pitch on the inside of his right elbow in the first inning. He played three more innings and was removed from the game with a “right elbow contusion.”

X-rays taken at Oriole Park at Camden Yards were negative, according to the Yankees.

“I'm not too concerned. He's a little sore, go hit right on the bone there,” Boone said. “So he's kind of day to day with that.”

KAHNLE OUT

After the game, Aaron Boone was evasive when asked if he considered using Tommy Kahnle instead of Loaisiga in the eighth inning. Loaisiga gave up a two-run homer and the lead in that inning.

Boone said Kahnle was “unavailable,” and when pressed about the issue, he said “we'll have something on that tomorrow.”

Kahnle last pitched out of a jam on Sunday, striking out the side in the eighth inning of a wn over the Nationals.