NEW YORK -- O say can you see the New York Yankees atop the AL East?
Well, it's getting harder and harder for the Baltimore Orioles, who came to the Bronx three days ago in second place, four games out and ready to apply some heat to the front-runners but now limp out of town seven games back after getting swept by the Yankees with Thursday's resounding 9-3 victory.
This one was over early -- the Yankees jumped out to a 4-0 first-inning lead and were up 9-1 by the end of five -- and with Masahiro Tanaka working into the eighth inning, the big guns in the Yankees' bullpen got a much-needed day off. Just about everyone hit, although Wednesday's heroes, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, were held in check. And the Yankees head into their 10-game road trip riding a four-game winning streak.
Masa Hero: For seven innings, Tanaka turned in probably his best performance since he threw seven scoreless innings back on April 18, holding the dangerous Orioles lineup to one run on two hits -- Chris Davis' solo homer in the second inning. The Orioles reached Tanaka for two more solo shots in the eighth, by J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado, but he still earned his seventh win of the season, working 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, walking none and striking out seven. He did have the luxury of working behind a significant lead all day but did his job in not giving it back. The three HRs could be troublesome -- Tanaka has now allowed 15 in 81-2/3 innings this season after allowing the same number in 136 innings last year -- but at least the fears he would remain healthy this season seem to have been laid to rest.
Chasing Ubaldo: Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez got a rude welcome to the Bronx as the Yankees scored four runs in the first inning, the big hit being Chase Headley's bases-loaded double that missed being a grand slam by about two feet, hitting high off the right center-field wall. Jimenez did not help himself, walking two hitters in front of Headley, and also allowed an RBI single by Didi Gregorius for the fourth run. Jimenez needed 37 pitches to get through the first inning, and was gone by the third with the Yankees leading 6-1. His final, unsightly line: 2 1/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR.
This old man came rolling home: The most entertaining part of the Yankees' first inning was Rodriguez's "slide" home as the caboose on Headley's bases-clearing double. Trying to score from first, it appeared A-Rod would be out by a mile on the relay home, but the throw went off Matt Wieters' glove, and as Rodriguez -- who apparently had chosen to go in standing up -- approached the plate, he reached down to touch it with his hand and went into a series of somersaults. Graceless but effective.
Ells bells: After starting the first-inning rally with a leadoff single, Jacoby Ellsbury added a solo HR, his third of the season, on the first pitch of the second inning to give the Yankees a 5-1 lead. Ellsbury also drove in the seventh run with a sacrifice fly in the third. The Yankees were 22-18 before Ellsbury went on the DL with a knee injury and are 9-3 since his return.
Bottoms up: The Yankees' 6-9 hitters -- Headley, Gregorius, John Ryan Murphy and Stephen Drew -- were 9-for-16 with five RBIs today. Murphy was 3-for-4 and scored twice, Didi 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run, Drew had an RBI double and Headley added a single and a run scored to his bases-clearing double.
Lough point: The Yankees added two fifth-inning runs when Orioles left-fielder David Lough attempted a shoestring catch of Ellsbury's sinking liner with two men on, only to have the ball skip past him for a double to make the score 9-1. It gave Ellsbury three hits and four RBIs for the day.
Least likely result: A Carlos Beltran infield hit. It happened in the sixth inning. For real.
Next!: The Yankees fly to Minneapolis to begin a three-city, 10-game road trip, starting with three against the Twins, who sit in second place in the AL Central, 7 1/2 back of the league-best Kansas City Royals. Pitching matchups: Michael Pineda (9-6, 3.77) vs. RHP Phil Hughes (8-6, 4.15), Friday at 8:10 p.m. ET; CC Sabathia (4-8, 5.25) vs. LHP Tommy Milone (5-2, 3.38), Saturday at 7:10 p.m. ET, and Nathan Eovaldi (9-2, 4.43) vs. RHP Kyle Gibson (8-7, 3.19) Sunday at 2:10 p.m. ET.
