After dropping both games of a doubleheader to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, the New York Yankees rebounded Saturday to defeat the Birds 3-2 at Camden Yards. With the win, the Yankees extended their hopes of giving Derek Jeter one last postseason by keeping their wild card chances alive for a little while longer.
Newly-acquired outfielder Chris Young literally stole the game when he scored on the front end of a double steal in the top of the second inning. Young scored when Antoan Richardson stole second base. Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph attempted to cut down Richardson to end the inning, but Richardson beat the throw, allowing Young to score on the play. It was the Yankees' third run of the inning, and it ended up the margin of victory.
Young is hitting .400 with three homers, eight RBI and six runs scored in nine games since joining the Yankees on September 2.
The Yankees scored their first two runs of the second inning on Brian McCann's 19th home run of the season with one out. Later in the inning, Richardson's RBI single drove home Mark Teixeira, who had walked, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. That hit also allowed Young to advance to third base and set up the double steal.
Shane Greene (W: 5-3, 3.56 ERA) pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. He walked just one batter and struck out nine. Four Yankee relievers combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings with David Robertson picking up his 36th save in his first season as the Yankees' closer.
Baltimore scored its two runs on a Nelson Cruz RBI single, scoring Nick Markakis, in the bottom of the third inning and a Steve Pearce solo shot (17) off Greene in the sixth inning.
Miguel Gonzalez (L: 9-8, 3.28) suffered the loss. He allowed all three runs on just three hits. He walked one batter and struck out six. The bullpen allowed only one hit over three innings of work, but the offense's comeback attempt fell one run short, leaving the tying run on third base when the game ended.
Baltimore's magic number to clinch the A.L. East holds at five while the Yankees cling to their wild card aspirations. At the moment, the Yankees are 4 1/2 games out pending the results of other games Saturday night. However, they have five teams ahead of them in the very tight wild card race with only 15 games remaining in the regular season.