Yanks outlast O's, reach 20 games over .500

BALTIMORE -- Miguel Andújar and Giancarlo Stanton supplied the thunder, each cracking a two-run homer in support of Masahiro Tanaka as the Yankees weathered threatening storm clouds and reached a new season high water mark in an 8-5 victory over the Orioles on Saturday afternoon at Camden Yards.
New York (37-17) improved to a season-high 20 games over .500, securing its sixth win in eight games. Following a delay due to the threat of inclement weather, Andujar hit his sixth homer and Stanton connected for his 12th off Kevin Gausman before the Orioles committed errors on three consecutive plays in a sloppy sixth inning, with Baltimore falling for the seventh straight contest.
"I helped the team," said Andujar, whose 26 extra-base hits lead all Major League rookies and rank second on the Yankees only to Aaron Judge (29). "When I go to home plate, I go with my plan and try to hit the ball hard. I feel really excited to be here and be part of this team. I help my team to win. I feel excited for that."
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Adam Jones, Joey Rickard and Manny Machado homered off Tanaka, who is now tied for third in the Majors with 15 homers allowed, but the blasts were all of the solo variety. The righty held the O's to four runs and eight hits over 5 1/3 innings, improving to 7-2.

Tanaka walked one and struck out seven in a 97-pitch effort, limiting traffic on the basepaths until he appeared to tire in the sixth inning.
"I feel like I made some quality pitches," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "I gave up three home runs today, and that's kind of been the thing for me. I feel like I need to do a better job of that."
New York's lead swelled in the sixth, as second baseman Jonathan Schoop threw away a potential double-play ball and center fielder Jones committed two errors, one on a bobble and one on a throw, setting up run-scoring singles for Didi Gregorius and Aaron Hicks.
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"It's always good to take advantage," Hicks said. "Just keep it going, keep scoring runs and keep collecting wins."
Gausman was done after 5 1/3 innings, having allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits. He walked none and struck out nine. Baltimore threatened in the home half of the frame, as Schoop raked a one-out single and Trey Mancini walked, drawing manager Aaron Boone from the visiting dugout.

Jonathan Holder entered and struck out the first man he faced, but Danny Valencia cashed the fourth O's run with a double to left. Holder escaped by retiring Chance Sisco on a flyout that sent left fielder Brett Gardner racing back toward the wall. Hicks and Andujar contributed run-scoring hits in the eighth off Mychal Givens to pad the Yanks' lead.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Boone said that he was particularly impressed by Andujar's plate discipline in the second inning, digging out an 0-2 splitter from Gausman and slugging the ball 399 feet over the wall in left field, as projected by Statcast™. The blast gave the Yankees the lead, and they would not trail again.
"More really good at-bats from him, obviously," Boone said. "To ride a two-strike split out of the ballpark off a guy with a good split, that was a really good swing he put on that ball. Miggy just continues to give us some quality at-bats and some thunder down at the bottom."

SOUND SMART
Hicks' bat has warmed up over his past 13 games, as the switch-hitter has tallied 17 hits in 50 at-bats (.340) with three doubles, a triple, two homers and eight RBIs. Saturday marked his second straight multi-hit game, and in 19 road games, Hicks is batting .352 (25-for-71) with 10 extra-base hits.

UP NEXT
Rookie right-hander Domingo Germán (0-3, 5.45 ERA) will make his fifth Major League start on Sunday as the Yankees conclude their visit to Baltimore with a 1:05 p.m. ET contest against the Orioles. German showed some encouraging signs in his last outing, holding the Astros to four runs (three earned) over 5 2/3 innings as he threw a career-high 104 pitches in a 5-1 loss. Right-hander Alex Cobb (1-7, 6.80 ERA) will get the nod for the O's.