Major League Baseball

Davis leads O's in rout of Yankees

Published Jun. 29, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Curveball, fastballs, good pitches, bad pitches, it doesn't matter to Chris Davis.

They're all flying off his bat and into the seats at a record pace.

Davis homered twice to raise his major league-leading total to 30, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Yankees 11-3 Saturday night to extend New York's losing streak to four games.

Davis hit a three-run drive in the first inning and added a two-run shot in the sixth, his third multihomer game of the season. The five RBI gave him 79, second-most in the big leagues and just six short of his career high.

Davis is the first player in Orioles history to hit 30 home runs before the end of June. With one more long ball in the next 14 games, Davis will break the franchise record for home runs before the All-Star break, set in 1996 by Brady Anderson.

"You can't make mistakes," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We made two mistakes with two curveballs tonight. We left them up in the zone and he hit them both out. He's not hitting 1.000, but I will say he is having a tremendous year. You have to make your pitches."

Given that Davis' career high for home runs in a season is 33, who could have seen this coming?

"I don't think it's anything you can predict," Davis said. "I think it's something you obviously work hard toward in the offseason to try and carry it into spring training and then into the season. I'm not going up there to try and hit home runs. I'm just trying to put good swings on good pitches. I think that's the biggest thing."

Davis scored three runs and upped his batting average to .333. The five RBI tied a season high.

"You can see him grinding and working on it," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He's not satisfied. He wants to continue to contribute at a high level for his teammates."

Ryan Flaherty also homered for the Orioles, who built a 9-0 lead in the third against David Phelps (5-5). Baltimore will seek to complete a three-game sweep on Sunday.

"They're a tough opponent and we get a chance to see them a bunch during the season, but we have a chance to go for the sweep," Davis said. "It would be huge for us."

Zach Britton (2-2) limited the offensively challenged, injury-riddled Yankees to one earned run over 5 2/3 innings. New York began the day ranked 26th in batting average and 23rd in runs among the 30 major league teams.

Phelps surrendered nine hits and a career-high nine runs in 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander was 4-0 in his last nine starts against AL East foes since Aug. 27, 2012.

"I don't care what our offense is doing. If you give up nine runs, it's a big hole to dig yourself out of," Phelps said. "The last four or five games I've gotten good run support. It's frustrating to go out there and not give them a chance to do it."

The Yankees have lost 12 of 17 to fall within four games of .500 (42-38) for the first time since April 26 (13-9). In addition, New York has dropped four straight in Baltimore during a single season for the first time since 1982.

"You just have to keep fighting," said Robinson Cano, who had two hits. "Hopefully, sooner or later, we'll turn it around and start winning games so we can get closer. We got beat tonight. It's not like we making errors. There was not much you could do."

After Britton worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first, Baltimore batted around in the bottom half. Singles by Manny Machado, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones produced a run before Davis got under a 2-1 pitch and sent it soaring into the bullpen area beyond the center-field wall for a 4-0 lead.

The Orioles added five runs in the third. Two walks and a single loaded the bases for Chris Dickerson, who singled in two runs. Flaherty followed with a three-run shot to chase Phelps, who was replaced by Ivan Nova.

New York chased Britton in the sixth. After Zoilo Almonte hit a sacrifice fly, another run scored when Davis booted Lyle Overbay's two-out grounder to first. With the bases loaded, Jair Jurrjens came in and retired Austin Romine on a fly ball.

Davis homered off Nova in the bottom half after a single by Markakis. Successive doubles by Chris Stewart and Brett Garner off Pedro Strop made it 11-3 in the ninth.

Notes

Brian Roberts (hip, knee) is scheduled to return from the DL and start at 2B for Baltimore on Sunday. The 35-year-old last played on April 4. ... Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound for New York on Sunday. Chris Tillman seeks his career-high 10th win for Baltimore. ... Nova is going to be part of the Yankees' six-man rotation heading into the All-Star break, and he could start in the upcoming series against Minnesota, manager Joe Girardi said. ... The Orioles recalled Jurrjens before the game and designated 1B Travis Ishikawa for assignment. ... The only starter in the Baltimore lineup without a hit was Nate McLouth, who went 0 for 5.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball