The night after losing a game on a blown call at first base, the New York Yankees left no room for error as they pounded the Baltimore Orioles 13-3 on Sunday to retake sole possession of first place in the division.
Curtis Granderson, who started the game on the bench, led the way with his 35th home run of the season to go along with five RBI's.
"The bottom line is we're in first place," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told the Associated Press. "The one thing that you want to be able to do is just rely on your club. You don't want to have to rely on other people."
Derek Jeter hit a homerun, scored twice and had three RBI's for the Yankees, who split four games with the Orioles at Camden Yards. On the year the teams split the season series with nine wins a piece.
The Yankees got out to an early 5-0 lead after scoring four runs in the fourth inning. After loading the bases New York forced in a run off a Steve Pearce walk and also added a run on Ichiro Suzuki's infield single.
In the bottom half of the inning Baltimore showed the toughness it has had as a team all season, scoring three runs to cut the lead to 5-3. But that was all they would be able to muster on the day.
Freddy Garcia was ineffective, allowing three runs in three innings before giving way to the Yankee bullpen. The relievers allowed no runs the rest of the game and combined for nine strikeouts. Joba Chamberlain (1-0) got the win for the Yankees.
Granderson hit a home run in the sixth and Yankees broke the game open in the eighth inning with a two-run home run by Jeter. Granderson entered the game in the sixth inning as a pinch hitter and became the first player to have three hits and five RBI's in a game he didn't start since 1988.
Orioles' starter Zach Britton struggled on the day, allowing five hits, five runs and five walks in only three innings.
"I felt like when I commanded the ball in the zone, I got the outs that I wanted," Britton said. "So I kind of just beat myself around today with the walks."
Both teams were dealing with injury news at the start due to plays from the previous night's game.
Baltimore outfielder Nick Markakis broke his left thumb after getting hit with a CC Sabathia fastball, and had been feared to be out for up to six weeks. But after surgery this week, his return could come sooner.
"September is not an option (for Markakis), so we've got to hopefully play good baseball and make October an option," Showalter said.
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira hurt his calf on the final play on Saturday night, sliding into first base to beat out a throw that he was wrongly called out on. He is set to get an MRI on Monday, but could be out for the rest of the regular season.
A win by the Yankees put the team up one game on the Orioles and denied Baltimore another chance at getting sole possession of first place.
The team has a day off before starting a three-game series with the Red Sox on the road in Boston. Baltimore will play the Tampa Bay Rays at home.
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