Game 127 Recap: A hit parade marches through

Parades in New York are usually reserved for the Canyon of Heroes. Friday night, however, a hit parade marched through Yankee Stadium on River Ave. and 161st St. in the Bronx as the Yankees welcomed the Baltimore Orioles to town and proceeded to waffle their division rivals from bell-to-bell.

By night’s end and at the conclusion of the 14-4 victory for the Yankees, each man in pinstripes who stepped up to bat had collected at least one base hit. Some recorded two, others even had three. The star of the show was again the incomparable Gary Sanchez whose streak of success stretched through the final day of the work week. Sanchez hit yet another home run on Friday night, his tenth of the season in merely his 85th plate appearance. Sanchez collected a double as well – the seventh of his short campaign – and saw his slash line rise to a ridiculous .403/.459/.883.

Mark Teixeira and Chase Headley each collected longballs as well on Friday night. The three home runs slugged by the Yankees were matched with three doubles as they recorded six extra base hits against the Orioles in the rout. Ronald Torreyes and Aaron Judge were the ones to dish out the two-baggers along with the aforementioned Sanchez, as the latter’s successes in the big leagues also stretched through Friday night’s affair.

It wasn’t all just about the bats on Friday night. The usually potent Orioles offense was held in check by Luis Cessa who allowed just three runs to pass in six innings of work. Cessa threw five strikeouts and issued only one free pass and had five hits scattered around the outing. The lone problem for Cessa was the outstanding Manny Machado who took him deep not once but twice, and was the lone source of offense for Baltimore. The bullpen blanked the adversary in the final three frames, making Cessa the pitcher of record in the outing.

The Play: A Priority Tex Message (+.198 WPA)

Tex’s two-run home run in the first inning wound up swinging things in the Yankees’ favor big time. The eleventh homer of the season for the veteran first baseman proved to be quite the blast by the time that it landed, and although it came in the first inning, it wound up being perhaps the most impactful play of the entire game.

Notes

– Per Yankees PR, Gary Sanchez became the first Yankee rookie to ever hit 10 home runs in a single month, and also became the third player in MLB history to have 10 home runs in his first 22 career games.

– Mark Teixeira’s home run made some history as he tied Bill Dickey on the Yankees’ all-time home run list, as he hit his 202nd home run of his Yankee career.

– Orioles outfielder Adam Jones left the game early with a hamstring strain, which could change the complexion of this entire weekend set if he is held out of Saturday and/or Sunday’s games.

The Highlight: Torreyes with the barehand

Luis Cessa made a similarly great play later on int he game but Ronald Torreyes’ barehanded snag-and-throw in the first inning was rather spectacular. That’s certainly one way to make an impact in the field, eh?

Up Next

The Yankees will look for the series win on Saturday as Chad Green (2-3, 3.66 ERA) will be on the bump for the Bombers. Dylan Bundy (7-4, 3.33 ERA) will oppose him. The game will be televised on YES Network and MLB Network in out-of-market areas.

Photo: Andy Marlin/USA Today Sports