You won’t believe this but the Yankees won their first series in Baltimore since September 2013. That’s right. The last time the Yankees won a series in Camden Yards was way back on September 9-12, 2013.
I thought it could be fun to take a quick look at that series 1) because we’ll be seeing a lot of names who are long gone and 2) it’ll be fun.
The series in Camden Yards was a four-game series and the Yankees had just lost a hard-fought four-game series to the Red Sox in the Bronx the previous weekend so whoever put the 2013 schedule together was pretty hardcore.
The Yanks dropped the first game of the series, 4-2. CC Sabathia was the losing pitcher while Chris Tillman picked up the victory for the O’s. Alex Rodriguez and Lyle Overbay hit solo home runs for the Yankees but they weren’t enough as the Orioles hit four doubles off Sabathia.
In the second game, neither starter, Ivan Nova nor Miguel Gonzalez factored into the decision, instead, it was Adam Warren who picked up the victory thanks to a four-run eighth inning by the Yankees. Rodriguez opened the inning with a double and came home on a Robinson Cano single. Cano was driven in by an Alfonso Soriano home run-his second of the game—which knocked out Kevin Gausman who was brought into the game in the seventh inning to replace Gonzalez. K-Rod came and gave up back-to-back doubles to Curtis Granderson and Mark Reynolds. Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to pick up his 42nd save of the season and the Yankees won, 7-5.
Game no. 3 was of the comeback variety. Andy Pettitte started it for the Yankees but the offense won it in the top of the ninth. Cano led off the inning with a home run to put the Yanks up, 4-3 and Overbay hit an RBI single to put them 5-3. Rivera would surrender a run in the bottom half of the frame but would hold on to pick up save no. 43.
In the last game of the series, the Yankees had a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth when Danny Valencia hit a game-tying three-run homer off David Robertson with two outs. After giving up a double to J.J. Hardy, Robertson got Matt Wieters swinging to end the inning. In the top of half of the ninth, Jim Johnson gave up a single a Brendan Ryan, committed an error on a bunt attempt by Chris Stewart which allowed Stewart to reach first and advanced Ryan to second. Granderson was successful bunting the runners over and while A-Rod was at the plate, Johnson uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Ryan to score and give the Yankees the lead back. Johnson then intentionally walked A-Rod which setup the double play and the Orioles got it to end the inning with the Yanks leading 6-5. Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for his sixth win of the year.
2013 isn’t really that long ago in the grand scheme of things but when you see the names of the key players in the games described above, it seems like a lifetime ago. And now, we never have to hear the phrase, “the Yankees haven’t won a series against the Baltimore in Camden Yards since 2013″ ever again.
Photo Credit: Evan Habeeb / USA TODAY Sports