BALTIMORE — Over the course of one inning Tuesday night, the Yankees touched home plate more times than they did in any single nine- or 10-inning contest during their four-game losing streak.
And so they got out of it.
The offense that was lost during the start of this road trip was revived in a five-inning third inning as the Yankees finally got back into the win column with a 6-2 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Trent Gresham’s three-run homer capped the five-run rally — after the Yankees (27-16) had scored a combined eight runs over their last four games — which was enough support for a run by Will Warren, who had another strong start across 5 ²/₃ innings before the bullpen closed the door.
The win sets up a rubber match for Wednesday afternoon, when the Yankees send Max Fried to the mound to try to take the Series before returning home for the Subway Series this weekend.
A night after Ryan Weathers pushed him to stay in the rotation when Gerrit Cole returns from the injured list, Warren added to his own case, and this time the Yankees didn’t waste it.
Warren, whose pitching count increased due to a shaky defense behind him, gave up just two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out six.
The Orioles (19-24) didn’t score those runs until the sixth inning, at which point they just cut into the Yankees’ 6-0 lead.
For the second time this trip, Paul Goldschmidt led off the game with a home run against a lefty.
After doing that on Saturday against the Brewers, he repeated the feat on Tuesday — this time on the first pitch of the game, taking Trevor Rogers deep into left field for a 1-0 lead.
The Yankees then put together a third-inning rally, which was led by a struggling Austin Wells single. Then, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice walked back-to-backs to load the bases.
Cody Bellinger led off the run by hitting a double play to make it 2-0 before Amed Rosario hit a chopper down the third base line, with Kobe Mayo throwing in to pull Pete Alonso first out of the bag as another run scored the lead 3-0.
Gresham, who often hit the ball hard but was not rewarded for it, came next and hit a three-run home run to center field off Rogers — his sixth of the year, and second from left — to make it 6-0.
It’s been a big blow that the Yankees have lost at key spots on this outing, but Grisham addressed it Tuesday to allow everyone in a Yankees uniform to breathe a little easier.
After getting the big lead, Warren’s defense did him no favors in the bottom of the third.
The right-hander walked the leadoff man, but then created a pair of ground balls to grounders, neither of which resulted in an out and instead loaded the bases.
First came a ground ball to shortstop, fielded by Max Shuman — who made his second straight start for the injured Jose Caballero, and Anthony Volpe is expected to take over on Wednesday — but his shift to second was over Rosario’s head.
With runners on first and second, Ryan McMahon then made a good stop to his left on a groundout from Gunnar Henderson, but spun and threw to Rosario, who was wide of the bag, allowing everyone to be safe with the bases loaded.
But Warren was able to escape the jam unscathed, getting a fly ball to right field that the Orioles had not tested on Aaron Judge and then a baserunner to second that was finally executed into a double play to end the inning.