Offensive outburst sends O's past Yankees
BALTIMORE -- Chris Davis homered and drove in a season-high four runs as the Orioles defeated Michael Pineda and the Yankees, 11-3, on Friday night, notching their fifth consecutive victory.
"You always want to play up to the competition, and he's had a lot of success against us in the past, and we knew we had a challenge ahead of us tonight," Davis said. "We did our homework. I think the more you see a guy, you know what he's going to do."
Davis hit a three-run homer, his 13th home run of the season, in a four-run third inning, Jimmy Paredes had three hits and Caleb Joseph homered late as the Orioles (30-30) reached the .500 mark for the first time since May 5. Ubaldo Jimenez allowed three runs over five-plus innings, picking up his first victory since May 11.
Working on extended rest, Pineda was not sharp, charged with six runs (five earned) and nine hits over 4 1/3 innings. The Yankees skipped Pineda's spot in the rotation due to concerns about his climbing innings total (now 74 2/3), but he did not use the 10-day layoff as an excuse.
"They're trying to take care of me and give me a little rest," Pineda said. "What happened tonight, it happens to everybody. I'm trying to keep my head up and just continue working, get ready for next time."
Mason Williams was a bright spot in the Yankees' second consecutive loss, hitting a two-run homer off Jimenez in the fourth inning to celebrate his first Major League hit.
Video: NYY@BAL: Williams collects first MLB hit, home run
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Orioles bats come alive: Baltimore collected 11 runs on 16 hits Friday night, which was the most runs the team had put together since the O's scored 18 against the Red Sox on April 26. Every member of the starting lineup picked up a hit on Friday, and Baltimore has scored 30 runs over its five-game winning streak. More >
"We're definitely swinging the bats well," Davis said. 'I think it's big for us to go up there and continue to have great at-bats -- not just go up there hacking, but really have an approach, have a plan and stick to it, and I think that's going to pay off over the course of the season."
Video: NYY@BAL: Davis opens scoring with single to right
Frustrating night for Pineda: The Yankees opted to skip Pineda's last outing, citing concerns about his rising innings total; he threw only 76 1/3 innings last year due to injuries. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that Pineda lacked his good slider, and the right-hander was visibly frustrated on the mound, particularly after issuing a leadoff walk to J.J. Hardy in the fifth. It marked Pineda's first loss in seven career starts vs. Baltimore.
"As I've said before, this was not something that we really wanted to do," Girardi said. "You're talking about a guy that just hasn't thrown a lot of innings, and we don't want to blow him out by July. It's a tough decision, but it's hard to say. There's been other starts he hasn't had his slider and I don't know what I'd necessarily attribute it to, but you're going to think about it."
Video: NYY@BAL: Pineda strikes out Reimold swinging in 2nd
Jimenez does enough for Baltimore: In the first inning it looked like Jimenez was in for a long night. The Yankees picked up back-to-back singles to begin the game and the right-hander walked Alex Rodriguez to load the bases with no outs. Jimenez proceeded to get the next three outs in a row without allowing a run, and he would go on to pitch five-plus innings, allowing six hits, three runs, two walks, a home run and one hit-by-pitch. He also struck out six.
"That was the key to the game," O's manager Buck Showalter said. "It's a real momentum turner. We come in and score. That's one you kind of look back on."
Video: NYY@BAL: Jimenez induces flyout, escapes jam
Mason work: The Yankees tucked a highlight away early as Williams, once rated as a top prospect in New York's system, homered in his second Major League at-bat. Williams had logged 235 plate appearances this season for Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre without a home run. His mother, father and younger brother attended the game, flying up from Florida on Friday afternoon. More >
"It happened quick, honestly. I don't remember running around the bases," Williams said. "But I had fun. All the guys were happy for me. They're happy for me and they obviously told me that I did well that at-bat. I was excited."
Video: NYY@BAL: Williams' mother on son's debut, HR
QUOTABLE
"Man, that was huge, especially to start the game off like that, and then to hang in there and battle and really give us a chance. It was kind of weird because you would think the momentum was in their dugout, but [to] shut them down right there kind of put it back in our dugout, and then to go back out there and score runs for him was big." -- Davis, on Jimenez escaping the first inning
"Yeah, we got beat pretty bad, but we've won seven out of our last nine. It wasn't fun to be part of tonight. We got beat pretty bad, Big Mike didn't have his best stuff, offensively we didn't take advantage of some chances we had with guys on base. We just got beat pretty bad. That's it." -- Brett Gardner
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Showalter picked up his 407th win with the Orioles, which ties him with former Yankee Hank Bauer for third place in Orioles history.
Mark Teixeira's sixth-inning throwing error snapped a 109-game errorless streak for the first baseman, the longest such streak of his career.
INJURY REPORT
Yankees third baseman Chase Headley was forced to exit Friday's game early after he was hit in the groin by a batted ball. The play happened in the third inning, a Manny Machado shot that was charged as Headley's career-high 14th error, and Headley was replaced by Brendan Ryan at third base in the fifth inning. Headley said that he felt nauseous but was seen by a doctor and expects to be available to play on Saturday.
"Anybody who's been through that understands the feeling," Headley said. "Most of the time you get over it pretty quickly and adjust. For whatever reason, it was not going away."
Video: NYY@BAL: Headley receives visit from trainers
WHAT'S NEXT
Yankees: CC Sabathia (3-7, 5.25 ERA) gets the ball for his 13th start of the season on Saturday as the Yankees face the Orioles at 7:15 p.m. ET. Sabathia is coming off a victory last Sunday against the Angels in New York in which he held the Halos to a pair of solo homers over six innings. He has 211 career victories, tied with Billy Pierce for 23rd all-time among left-handed pitchers.
Orioles: Bud Norris (2-4, 8.63 ERA) will take the mound for Baltimore on Saturday. Norris made his first start since May 10 last Sunday after battling a serious case of bronchitis. The right-hander picked up the win after going five innings against the Indians, allowing four hits, one run and two walks. He struck out seven.
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