Yanks 8, Orioles 2: Montgomery starts, Hicks finishes ’em off

Source: FanGraphs

Three straight wins! It’s been a while since the Yankees have done that, believe it or not. This is the first time since early May. The Yankees beat the Orioles 8-2 in Friday’s series opener, though it wasn’t until the late innings that they broke the game open. It was much closer most of the night. The Yankees have outscored the Red Sox and Orioles 25-3 during this little three-game winning streak. That’s the good stuff. Anyway, it’s Friday night, so let’s recap with bullet points:

• Monty’s Best: Thanks to what I thought was his best breaking ball of the season, Jordan Montgomery set new career highs in innings (seven) and strikeouts (eight) on Friday night. He did allow two runs on a Jonathan Schoop homer, though it wasn’t even that bad a pitch. Schoop managed to reach across the plate and hammer it into the left field bleachers. Not sure how he did that. Montgomery pitched out of some jams, mostly notably a runner on third with one out in the fifth with the score tied 2-2, and finished by retiring the last nine men he faced. What a nice little surprise this kid has been, huh?
• Second Best Aaron: Schoop gave the O’s a 2-0 lead in the top of the second and the Yankees immediately answered with two in the bottom half. Starlin Castro’s home run and Chase Headley’s sac fly did the deed. It wasn’t until the sixth inning that the Yankees took a 3-2 lead. They did that on an Aaron Hicks solo homer. Dylan Bundy fooled him with a changeup earlier in the at-bat (and earlier in the game), and it sure looked like Hicks sat on the pitch. He got it and he crushed it. Then, in the seventh, Hicks cracked his second homer of the night, that one a two-run shot. This dude belongs in the All-Star Game.
• Tack-On Runs: The 2017 Yankees really do a great job tacking on runs late in the game. Matt Holliday doubled in Aaron Judge after the Hicks homer in the seventh inning to stretch the lead to 6-2, then Austin Romine came through with a two-run single in the eighth inning to make it 8-2. The Yankees are only 7-8 in one-run games this season, but you know what? They’re 17-2 in games decided by at least five runs. This team can really tack on runs. It’s awesome.
• Leftovers: Tyler Clippard and Jonathan Holder finished off the game after Montgomery without making it interesting … Hicks, Holliday, Brett Gardner, and Gary Sanchez each had two hits … Castro had the homer and a walk … Headley had two walks … every starter reached base at least once … the Yankees are a season high 12 games over .500.

Here are the box score, video highlights, and updated standings. Don’t miss our Bullpen Workload page either. The Yankees and Orioles will continue this series Saturday night (argh) at Yankee Stadium. Luis Severino and Chris Tillman are the scheduled starters. If you want to catch either of the final two games in this series, RAB Tickets can get in the door.