NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a tying homer in the ninth inning and rookie Anthony Volpe drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th as the streaking New York Yankees rallied past the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 on Tuesday night.
Harrison Bader homered to begin New York’s comeback from an early 4-0 deficit, and Judge took Gerrit Cole off the hook for his first loss in 11 starts this season.
Back home from a 6-1 trip, the Yankees (30-20) won their fifth straight in a series opener between AL East rivals who both entered on a roll. They improved to 15-5 in their last 20 games, moving 10 games above .500 for the first time this season.
Cedric Mullins and Gunnar Henderson homered early for Baltimore. Following consecutive walks by Cole with two outs in the first, Adam Frazier hit a two-run double that glanced off the glove of a lunging Judge in deep right field.
Bader homered in the fourth and tied the score with a sacrifice fly against starter Kyle Bradish in a three-run fifth. Anthony Rizzo had an RBI double, and DJ LeMahieu followed with a run-scoring single that made it 4-3.
Cole, who reached 2,000 strikeouts in the second, was pulled after giving up back-to-back singles to start the sixth. Terrin Vavra put the Orioles back in front 5-4 with a bases-loaded groundout against Ron Marinaccio.
Baltimore’s stingy bullpen held it there until Judge drove an 0-2 splitter from Félix Bautista over the left-field fence with one out in the ninth. It was Judge’s 14th home run this season and eighth in his last nine games.
Bautista struck out the other three batters he faced, but the Yankees scratched across the winning run against Bryan Baker (3-2) in the 10th.
Bader’s slow bouncer advanced the automatic runner, pinch-runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa, from second to third. Willie Calhoun was intentionally walked and Volpe lofted a long fly to center that was caught just in front of the warning track, allowing Kiner-Falefa to score without a throw.
It was the first walk-off RBI in the majors for Volpe. He was swarmed by excited teammates between first and second, then doused with cold liquid by Judge and Rizzo as he was interviewed on the field.
Michael King (1-1) pitched two hitless innings for the win, striking out three. He fanned the first two batters in the 10th, and Volpe made a jumping catch at shortstop of Frazier’s two-out humpback liner to keep it tied.
BOYS’ NIGHT OUT
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had more than a half-dozen pals from back home in Northern California with him at Yankee Stadium. Many were wearing black T-shirts with Hyde’s name on the back and a picture of him scowling on the front. The gang posed for photos in front of Baltimore’s dugout during batting practice, and Hyde joked that after spending an off day Monday with his high school and college buddies in New York City — he could use another off day.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: RHP Dillon Tate (elbow flexor strain) threw 23 pitches and got two outs in a rehab appearance for Triple-A Norfolk at Memphis. … INF Ramón Urías (left hamstring strain) will be the DH for Class A Aberdeen on Wednesday. … DH Anthony Santander was shaken up in the fifth after a foul ball off his bat bounced and hit him in the groin, but he remained in the game.
Yankees: 3B Josh Donaldson (right hamstring strain) could begin a minor league rehab assignment Thursday, and manager Aaron Boone reiterated that Donaldson will be an everyday player when he returns. … LHP Carlos Rodón joined the team and said he no longer has back pain following a round of injections this month. Rodón threw from 120 feet, and the Yankees hope to plan a bullpen session for him by the end of this week. Rodón had been rehabbing at the club’s complex in Florida. He has been sidelined all season after going on the injured list with a left forearm strain that’s healed. “He’s moving in a good direction now. Want to keep that momentum going,” Boone said. … DH/OF Giancarlo Stanton (left hamstring strain) took batting practice and has been feeling good, but there’s no timetable yet for starting a rehab assignment. … C Jose Trevino (left hamstring strain) is running and will begin baseball activities this week. Boone said he wasn’t sure if there’s any chance Trevino could come off the IL when eligible Sunday. … RHP Tommy Kahnle (right biceps tendinitis) is scheduled to get four outs in a minor league game Thursday and probably will have at least one more rehab outing. “But I know he feels ready,” Boone said. “He looks good.”
UP NEXT
Baltimore RHP Tyler Wells (3-1, 2.94 ERA) starts the middle game of the series Wednesday night against LHP Nestor Cortes (4-2, 5.21). Wells is 0-4 with a 4.68 ERA and one save in 11 career games — five starts — versus the Yankees. He entered Tuesday leading the majors in WHIP (0.79) and opponent on-base percentage (.214).
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