Baltimore 12, NY Yankees 5

J.J. Hardy, Matt Wieters and Mark Reynolds homered as the Baltimore Orioles pounded A.J. Burnett and the visiting New York Yankees, 12-5, on Friday.

Nolan Reimold doubled, tripled and drove in three for the Orioles, who matched a season high with their fifth straight win.

The loss kept the Yankees one game behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. New York will not get a chance to make up ground Saturday, as a scheduled doubleheader was postponed in advance of Hurricane Irene.

Burnett continued his terrible August, yielding six runs in the second as Baltimore quickly piled on the beleaguered righthander. Reynolds sparked the rally with his 30th homer and Reimold, Matt Angle and Robert Andino each doubled in a run before Hardy’s two-run blast.

Burnett (9-11) ended up getting charged with nine runs in five innings. He has surrendered 30 runs in 22 2/3 innings this month.

Tommy Hunter (3-2) allowed four runs in seven innings to earn the win.

Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada homered for New York, which was coming off a 22-9 win over the Oakland Athletics that included a major league record three grand slams.

• Baltimore will play their next game at home against NY Yankees. The Orioles have a W/L % of .490 after a win and .346 after a loss.
• NY Yankees will play their next game on the road against Baltimore. The Yankees have a W/L % of .595 after a win and .620 after a loss.