New York Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles Box Score on Sep 04, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Sep 4, 2017

BALTIMORE -- Starlin Castro went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs, leading the New York Yankees past the Baltimore Orioles 7-4 in their series opener Monday.

New York maintained its lead atop the wild-card standings while dropping the Orioles to two games back for the second spot pending Monday's later games. Didi Gregorius also homered for New York, which has won four of its past five games.

Yankees rookie Aaron Judge, who has 38 home runs, went 1-for-1 with four walks.

A fielder's choice by Brett Gardner and an RBI single by Castro in the sixth boosted New York's lead to 7-3. From there, Yankees reliever Chad Green (3-0) threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

David Robertson entered in the eighth and walked the first two batters before getting out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a grounder.

Dellin Betances allowed a two-out, solo home run to Welington Castillo in the ninth before striking out Seth Smith to end the game. Castillo tied a career high with 19 home runs.

With a win Tuesday, the Yankees can take their first series at Camden Yards since 2013. The Orioles have gone 1-for-22 with runners in scoring position over the past two games.

Tim Beckham gave Baltimore an early lead when he led off the first with a homer off rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery. Chris Davis went deep again with a two-run shot the following inning.

Castro got the Yankees' first hit off Dylan Bundy (13-9) with a leadoff single in the fourth. Gregorius followed with a two-run homer that cut the margin to 3-2. That ended a streak of 12 scoreless innings for Bundy.

The Yankees tied the game later in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Jacoby Ellsbury. Castro gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead with another two-run homer that ended Bundy's day in the fifth.

Bundy was coming off his best month as a starter, going 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA in five starts in August. He struggled to carry that momentum and allowed five runs and five hits with five strikeouts and four walks.

NOTES: Baltimore OF Craig Gentry (fractured right finger) met with a hand specialist on Sunday. The Orioles hope he can rejoin the team by Sept. 12 in Toronto. ... Yankees C Gary Sanchez began serving a three-game suspension on Monday for his role in last month's brawl against the Tigers. Fellow C Austin Romine is still waiting to hear about his punishment for his involvement in that same fracas. ... Orioles SS J.J. Hardy (elbow) swung the bat on Monday after throwing the previous day.