Baltimore Orioles vs New York Yankees Box Score on Sep 21, 2018

Aaron Hicks became the fifth Yankee to reach 25 homers, CC Sabathia rebounded from his shortest outing in over three years by pitching six effective innings, and New York moved closer to clinching a wild-card spot by holding on for a 10-8 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees (94-59) lowered their magic number to clinch a wild-card spot to two after nearly blowing a 6-0 lead. They held on to their 1 1/2 game lead over Oakland, which defeated Minnesota.

Hicks extended the Yankees' lead to 6-0 lead with two outs in the fourth when he reached the second deck in right field by hitting a 3-1 fastball from Yefry Ramirez (1-7).

The switch-hitting outfielder hit New York's 249th homer, putting them 14 away from the major league record set by Seattle in 1997.

Hicks' homer also marked the second time in team history the Yankees saw five players reach 25 homers. It also happened in 2009 when New York slugged 244 homers en route to its last championship.

Six days after allowing three homers in 2 1/3 innings, Sabathia (8-7) went six innings, allowing two runs and six hits. He walked three and struck out five.

Sabathia won for the second time since the All-Star break and also recorded his 245th victory, tying Dennis Martinez and early 1900s pitcher Jack Powell for 51st on the all-time list.

Didi Gregorius homered in the first inning, while Gleyber Torres produced an RBI single and scored on Austin Romine's run-scoring groundout in the fourth before Hicks homered.

Andrew McCutchen contributed an RBI single and Luke Voit added a two-run single in the seventh for a 9-4 lead. Aaron Judge drove in the final run with a double in the eighth.

Baltimore (44-109) lost for the 15th time in 19 games. Amid rumors that longtime manager Buck Showalter will be fired after the season, the Orioles crept within two losses of setting the franchise record for losses set by the 1939 St. Louis Browns, who finished 64 1/2 games out of first place.

Adam Jones hit a two-run single off Sabathia in the fifth inning, and Austin Wynns opened the seventh by homering off Jonathan Loaisiga. Jonathan Villar hit an RBI single off former Oriole Zach Britton later in the inning.

Renato Nunez hit a two-run homer in the eighth off A.J. Cole, and D.J. Stewart hit a two-run homer off David Robertson later in the inning to make it a one-run game.

Dellin Betances tossed a scoreless ninth to record his fourth save.

Ramirez allowed six runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings and was lifted after Hicks homered.

--Field Level Media