NEW YORK -- The Yankees belted four more long balls and became the proud owners of the best record in the Majors on Saturday. Brett Gardner went deep twice, Austin Romine collected a career-high five RBIs and Aaron Judge slammed his American League-leading 10th blast, powering a 12-4 victory over the Orioles.
Michael Pineda limited Baltimore to a pair of unearned runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings to pick up his third victory for the surging Yankees (15-7), who grabbed sole possession of first place in the AL East. Gardner drove in four runs against O's starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who surrendered seven runs (six earned) over 3 1/3 frames.
"I feel like we've gotten off to a great start this season, and it's up to us to keep it rolling," said Gardner, who hadn't homered since last July 30. "The Orioles always play us tough. It was a great win last night, and it was great to come out here today and win the series, but we want to just keep taking things one day at a time and keep winning."
Judge added a two-run blast in the seventh inning for the Yankees, who have won 14 of their last 17 games while outscoring opponents by 50 runs over that span.
"You're going to have times where you go up to the plate and the baseball is going to look like a golf ball up there, and you're going to have times where it's looking like it's right down the middle," Judge said.
Romine contributed a second-inning sacrifice fly and a two-run single in the fourth off Jimenez, then added a two-run homer in the sixth off Vidal Nuno. Jimenez has been unable to complete five innings in four of his five starts, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter was noncommittal when asked if he would remain in the rotation.
"It's tough," Jimenez said. "I've been there before. I know it's tough, but I know I can get out of it, too. I'm going to keep working hard and I'm going to find a way to get back."
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MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Gardner plants another: After leading off the game with a second-deck homer to right field -- a pseudo-back-to-back shot, considering Matthew Holliday's walk-off blast in Friday's series opener -- Gardner connected again in the second inning, barreling a 92.5-mph Jimenez fastball for a three-run blast to deep center field. Gardner entered play on Saturday with just three hits in his last 28 at-bats (.107).
"Guys have been giving me a hard time, asking me how many I've got, so it was nice to get that first one out of the way and contribute a little bit on the offensive side of the ball," Gardner said. "I thought it was a great day for the team."
Judge and jury: Judge's seventh-inning homer off Jayson Aquino was his 10th in April, tying the Major League record for rookies. The big-swinging outfielder, whom Holliday has called "probably the most gifted baseball player I think I've ever been around," joined Trevor Story (10 homers in 2016) and Jose Abreu (10 homers in 2014) in reaching the mark.
"I'm not sure you really expect 10 home runs from anybody in a month; that would be 60 in a year," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "But we knew he was extremely talented. I've said all along, if he gets the barrel of the bat to the ball, good things are going to happen."
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph's two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning marked his first RBI since Sept. 11, 2015. He hadn't homered since Aug. 16, 2015 vs. Oakland.
"You are in a tough spot, because you are getting your you-know-what whipped," Joseph said. "You want to be excited because there's a lot of enduring there, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. All of them. But the most important thing is a 'W'. We weren't able to put anything together today."
SCHOOP HIT BY PITCH
Jonathan Schoop was removed for precautionary reasons in the bottom of the seventh inning after being hit in the elbow in his sixth-inning at-bat. He did not get an X-ray and the club will see how he is on Sunday.
WHAT'S NEXT
Orioles: Baltimore will send Wade Miley to the hill in Sunday's series finale at 1:05 p.m. ET. Miley has had three consecutive quality starts and is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA. The veteran lefty has allowed just three earned runs over his last 15 innings.
Yankees: Rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery is set to make his fourth Major League start on Sunday as the Yanks complete their three-game series with the Orioles. Montgomery took his first career loss on April 23 at Pittsburgh, despite allowing only two runs over six innings.
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