Orioles rally vs. Yankees to clinch first series win in New York in more than two years

For the first time in more than two years, the Baltimore Orioles have won a series in Yankee Stadium. The O’s erased a three-run deficit in the seventh inning Sunday afternoon to beat the Yankees (BAL 8, NYY 7) and clinch the three-game series win. Baltimore is 7-9 against the Yankees this year. They have not beaten any other team more than four times.

This weekend’s series was the O’s first series win at Yankee Stadium since the opening series in 2019, when they took two of three. It was also their first series win against an AL East team since sweeping the Red Sox in Fenway Park in the very first series of this season. Baltimore is now 2-15-1 in series against division rivals this year.

The Yankees took a 7-4 lead into the seventh inning thanks to two Gary Sanchez home runs, including a second-inning grand slam. It was Sanchez’s first two-homer run game since Sept. 3, 2019, against the Rangers.

With ace setup man Jonathan Loáisiga injured and Aroldis Chapman unavailable to his recent workload, the Yankees held Chad Green back for the save opportunity Sunday, and it cost them. Andrew Heaney entered to pitch the seventh — Heaney was recently demoted to the bullpen following Corey Kluber’s return from the injured list — and he retired just one of the six batters he faced.

The Orioles tied the game on Jorge Mateo’s bloop single to center — Mateo is a former Yankees prospect who went to the Athletics in the Sonny Gray trade, then later bounced to the Padres and Orioles — and took the lead on Kelvin Gutierrez’s solid single to left. Six of the first seven batters the O’s sent to the plate in the seventh inning reached base.

Going into this weekend’s series, the Orioles were 2-13 in their last 15 games in Yankee Stadium and 3-24 in their last 27 games overall. The series win was only their second since late July. Baltimore is 43-92 and has already been eliminated from postseason contention.

As for the Yankees, they have lost six of eight since their 13-game winning streak. They remain a half-game up on the Red Sox for the first wild card spot and four games up on the Mariners for a wild card spot in general.