Bombers blast away Baltimore 9-3 to secure fifth straight series win

The Yankees came into this game trailing the Red Sox in the division by only three games and hoped to gain one game closer with a win against the Orioles. Young lefty Jordan Montgomery took the mound today to face this potent Baltimore lineup. The game started off slow which was expected with Jeremy Hellickson's average of 26 seconds between pitches on the mound, but it got exciting early on with a pair of three-run home runs by Didi Gregorius and Greg Bird, and a two-run home run by Todd Frazier. The Bombers would never look back, winning this game 9-3, clinching the series win against their divisional opponent.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Montgomery would start off hot to begin the game, striking out three Orioles before surrendering his first hit in the second to Trey Mancini. However, the left fielder Mancini was thrown at trying to steal second by Austin Romine, who made a great block to give himself the time to throw out the runner. Monty then struck out Wellington Castillo to end the inning.

Baltimore pitcher Jeremy Hellickson would surrender a pair of two-out walks in the third to Chase Headley and Aaron Judge, bringing up shortstop Didi Gregorius, who roped the second pitch of the at-bat over the right-field wall to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead heading into the fourth.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

The young lefty would continue his great outing, recording his sixth strikeout and allowing only his third hit of the game. In the bottom of the fourth, Jacoby Ellsbury would rip a leadoff double down the right-field line for his second hit of the game continuing his great September. The lefty outfielder is batting .375 for the month of September, .141 points up from August. Todd Frazier worked a walk to bring up Greg Bird with no outs and runners on first and second. The smooth-swinging lefty would rip a 2-2 changeup into the second deck in left field. With no outs in the fourth, Orioles manager Buck Showalter would pull Hellickson in hopes of stopping the bleeding. Chris Tillman would retire the next three Bomber hitters, ending the inning with a 6-0 Yankee lead.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

The scoring did not stop there, after another quick three outs by Jordan Montgomery, Didi would reach on an infield single to second, Starlin Castro walked to first on a hit by pitch, bringing up Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury snuck a groundball in between third and short to score Didi from second for his third hit of the game, giving the Yankees a 7-0 with one out. A flyout by Todd Frazier and Greg Bird would end the threat, but more damage was done.

The Yankees threatened again in the sixth inning. Brett Gardner reached on a throwing error on a ground ball to first, then Chase Headley continuing his now 14-game hitting streak. With runners on the corners and one out, Aaron Judge came to the plate and grounded into a double play to end the inning. Tommy Khanle came into relieve Montgomery in the seventh. The righty flamethrower has struggled recently, but was fine in his one inning outing with one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts. Hopefully, he can find his impressive form that he had when he came to the club in July.

The Yankees were back to blasting the baseball in the seventh when Todd Frazier continued his power streak with a two-run home run over the centerfield wall. This was Frazier's fifth home run of the month in 34 at-bats.

Ben Heller relieved Tommy Khanle in the eighth and Ronald Torreyes subbed in for Castro at second. Heller walked the first two batters, causing Larry Rothschild to start to stir in the dugout. The righty would get the next two batters to fly out to Gardner. The runners advanced on an error by Didi Gregorius, but Heller would get a 4-3 groundout to end the inning.

 Chasen Shreve came in the ninth to finish off the shutout. He walked one batter, and surrendered a two-run home run over the rightfield wall, cutting the Yankee lead to a measly seven runs. Shreve walked the next three batters and Girardi would bring out Giovanny Gallegos to end the game. After one pitch, Gallegos would balk to give up a run, and cut the lead to six. The righty got a strikeout to finally end the game, giving the Yanks a 9-3 win at home.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Montgomery was light outs to start this game and continued his great form throughout his start. This was a good sign for the young lefty pitcher, who was starting to struggle in the second half of the season. This long outing by Monty would let the bullpen rest for a third consecutive game, which they most likely appreciated this late in the season. This was also Montgomery's first win and first outing over of six innings in more in 52 days.

This was another offensive outburst for the Bombers, making life easy for the Montgomery and the pitching staff. Every game at this point is almost a playoff game for the Yankees, as they look to retake the division from Boston, and with the win today, a Red Sox loss tonight would place the Yanks only two games back in the division with 14 games to go for New York. The Orioles finish their trip in the Bronx tomorrow with a 1:10 pm game where CC Sabathia will face Ubaldo Jimenez in hopes of achieving the sweep.

Winning Pitcher: Jordan Montgomery (8-7 4.06 ERA) 6.0 IP, 4 H, BB, 6 K

Losing Pitcher: Jeremy Hellickson (8-10 5.47 ERA) 3.0 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 HR

Notables:

Didi Gregorius 3-4 3 R, 3 RBI (80), HR (23)

Jacoby Ellsbury 3-4 R, RBI (39) 2B (16)

Greg Bird 1-4 R, 3 RBI, HR (5)
Todd Frazier 1-3 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (26)

Article by: Maxx Hotton

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