Major League Baseball
NY Yankees 14, Baltimore 4
When: 7:05 PM ET, Friday, August 26, 2016
Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Temperature: 89°
Umpires: Home - Paul Nauert, 1B - Ron Kulpa, 2B - Ryan Blakney, 3B - Chris Conroy
Attendance: 38423

NEW YORK -- Standing in front of his locker in the corner of the massive New York Yankees clubhouse, Gary Sanchez spoke modestly and quietly about the latest big night of what has become a dream start to a career.

Sanchez did not need to make noise with his words to a group of about 25 reporters.

His bat did it for him.

Sanchez became the third player to get 10 home runs in his first 22 games Friday night when he highlighted a three-hit night with a long two-run home run and the Yankees rolled to a 14-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

"I'm trying to just put a good swing on the ball," Sanchez said through an interpreter. "That's the mindset I have and good things are happening."

Sanchez fell a triple shy of his cycle when he flied out in the seventh, but before his final at-bat, the rookie catcher singled and a had a two-run double during New York's six-run second inning. The Yankees had a 10-1 lead when Sanchez stepped in for his fourth at-bat, and when he drove a 1-0 pitch from Vance Worley into the left-field seats, he heard fans chanting his name as he rounded the bases.

"It's as good as I've seen to start a career," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Sanchez joined Trevor Story and George Scott (1966, Boston Red Sox) as the only players to get double-digit home runs in their first 22 games. Eight of those have been in his last nine games, and in his last 10 games he is 20-for-37 (.541). His 20 RBIs through 22 games are the third-most in Yankees history only behind Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio (22) and Hideki Matsui (21).

No wonder people are running out of things to say about a player fans have anticipated for the last few years.

"Yeah I think so," said Girardi when asked if he has run out of adjectives to describe Sanchez's performances. "He continues to just swing the bat extremely well. He seems to center every baseball he hits. He's patient. He gets his pitch and he's not missing it right now."

Sanchez finished New York's fifth win in seven games and 13th in 21 games since he was promoted on Aug. 3 by getting three hits for the fifth time. Only Bob Meusel and Joe DiMaggio had six three-hit games within their first 22 games.

With five games remaining in August, Sanchez also has the Yankees rookie record for home runs in a month and the most since Alfonso Soriano hit 13 in August 2013. He also is the first Yankee to record multiple hits and a home run in three straight games at the current Yankee Stadium.

"He's as hot as it gets right now and we're all having a good time watching him," Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner said.

It was a fun night all around for the Yankees, who are 3 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second wild -spot. New York had its second-most runs and hits of the season and scored at least five runs for the ninth time in 13 games.

All nine starters had a hit, seven collected multiple hits and the Yankees were 7-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Besides Sanchez's four RBIs, Mark Teixeira drove in three runs with a two-run home run in the first off Yovani Gallardo (4-6) and an RBI single during a six-run second inning. Gardner also drove in three runs with two run-scoring singles while Jacoby Ellsbury had an RBI single. Ronald Torreyes added an RBI double during the Yankees' six-run second inning that was aided by Nolan Reimold's error. Chase Headley contributed a two-run home run.

Yankees rookie right-hander Luis Cessa allowed two home runs to Manny Machado among five hits in six innings in his second career start. But Cessa was caught up in the Sanchez's output as well.

"Right now Sanchez is amazing," Cessa said.

Things were not so amazing for the Orioles, who lost for the seventh time in 11 games and 11th straight series opener in New York. Machado had his ninth career multi-homer game and Jonathan Schoop had a late RBI single, but little else went right for the Orioles.

Gallardo had the shortest start of his 10-year career, allowing eight runs (seven earned) and six hits in 1 1/3 innings. Worley wasn't much better, allowing four runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings, and the Orioles finished the game with a team ERA of 4.45 after allowing at least eight runs for the fourth time in the last eight games.

"Just up and wild in the strike zone and up," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "Never really got any sequences going."

Making matters worse for Baltimore was Adam Jones left the game after the second inning with a strained left hamstring and his replacement in center field made the error ahead of the big inning by the Yankees.

"It (stinks)," Jones said. "I feel like I let my team down."

NOTES: C/DH Brian McCann was not with the Yankees because his grandmother passed away. McCann was not placed on the bereavement list and manager Joe Girardi is uncertain if he will be available Saturday. ... Baltimore activated LHP T.J. McFarland from the 15-day disabled list and designated RHP Logan Ondrusek for assignment. It was the third straight day the Orioles made a transaction with a pitcher and 10th instance this month. ... Girardi said there is a possibility RHP Bryan Mitchell could appear at some point in the majors. Mitchell, who injured his foot at the end of spring training, was activated from the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre on Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Baltimore   NY Yankees
Yovani Gallardo Player Luis Cessa
Loss W/L Win
1.1 IP 6.0
0 Strikeouts 5
6 Hits 5
47.25 ERA 4.50
Hitting
Baltimore   NY Yankees
Manny Machado Player Gary Sanchez
2 Hits 3
3 RBI 4
2 HR 1
8 TB 7
.500 Avg .600
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Baltimore 7 2 14 .206 9 7 4 1 0 3
NY Yankees 18 3 30 .429 15 4 14 2 0 1