BALTIMORE — How about those pesky Yankees?
Long criticized for being too reliant on home runs — especially with Aaron Judge out of the lineup — the Yankees scratched out a pair of runs in the eighth inning to take the lead in a 5-3 win over the Orioles on Wednesday night at Camden Yards.
It was their third straight win.
The winning rally — which occurred after a controversial foul call took an apparent homer away from Pete Alonso in the seventh — featured just one hit.
The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs thanks to Heliot Ramos getting hit by a pitch, a walk to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and pinch hitter José Caballero also getting drilled by right-hander Cam Sanders.
Facing Yennier Cano, George Lombard Jr. gave the Yankees the lead with an infield single to third.
With Austin Wells at the plate, Cano then fired a wild pitch that scored Chisholm, who hustled to the plate, as the ball didn’t get far away from catcher Yohel Pozo.
That was enough to give the Yankees their third straight win — but it didn’t come without some drama.
In the seventh, Alonso was sure he’d hit a solo shot off Brent Headrick that would have given Baltimore a one-run lead.
In near Carlton Fisk-style, Alonso watched the ball as he walked down the first base line.
The ball seemingly sailed over the left field foul pole.
He flipped his bat away, convinced he’d just hit his 30th homer — and second of the night.
Instead, home plate umpire Ryan Wills called the ball foul, much to Alonso’s disgust.
After a lengthy replay delay, the call stood.
A livid Alonso, who’d homered in the third inning off Will Warren, was forced to continue the at-bat. He eventually went down swinging to keep the game tied.
And the Yankees pounced.
They also got another gritty — and taxing — performance from their bullpen.
A day after five relievers followed Carlos Rodón’s short outing with five scoreless innings, they were put to work again, as Warren also lasted just four innings.
This time, the group allowed just one run, as Fernando Cruz gave up a two-out homer to Dylan Beavers in the sixth.
Earlier in the game, the Yankees squandered an early scoring chance, as Trent Grisham and Ben Rice opened the game with singles against right-hander Chris Bassitt.
But Luis García Jr. grounded into a double play and with Grisham at third, Heliot Ramos grounded out.
The Orioles took the lead in the bottom of the first on a double steal, as Jackson Holliday scored from third when Austin Wells threw to second in a failed attempt to get Gunnar Henderson.
Warren retired the next two batters to avoid further damage.
Ryan McMahon delivered a run-scoring single in the second, which was followed by a sacrifice fly by Lombard.
Rice’s 431-foot solo homer in the third made it 3-1 and they had a chance to add to their lead when García and Ramos followed with singles.
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Chisholm then lined one to first, where Samuel Basallo made a nice diving catch and Jones struck out.
Baltimore got a run back in the third, as Alonso went the other way for his 29th homer of the season to cut the lead to one run.
