NEW YORK (AP) - For all of Baltimore’s big hits, and there were plenty of them, a little grounder caused the most trouble for the New York Yankees.
Rather than turn an early double play, Derek Jeter just missed a bouncer up the middle. The Orioles quickly took advantage, and went on to rout the Yankees 14-5 Tuesday.
“That was the game,” losing pitcher Ivan Nova said. “I know he tried the best to make the double play, and unfortunately it didn’t work out the way we wanted to.”
Delmon Young, Adam Jones and Matt Wieters homered as the Orioles teed off for 20 hits.
After Nick Markakis led off the game with a single, Young followed with a grounder. Many shortstops in the majors could’ve made the play, but the 39-year-old Jeter couldn’t quite get to it, and the ball skipped under his glove for a single.
“He dove. He did everything he could to make that play,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Chris Davis followed with a sacrifice fly, and Jones hit his first homer of the season for a 3-0 lead. The Orioles chased Nova with a three-run fourth that made it 7-1 and added four more in the sixth.
Young and Wieters each drove in three runs, and Jones delivered one of the Orioles’ four doubles at a half-empty Yankee Stadium.
Everyone in Baltimore’s starting lineup got a hit and scored a run. The Orioles posted their second-highest hit total in the Bronx, eclipsed only by a 22-hit outburst in 1986.
By the late innings, the game took on a spring training feel. The Yankees pulled several starters and the often-demanding crowd didn’t even bother to boo while the Birds ran around the bases.
There was a big cheer, however, when two fans sprinted onto the grass and were tackled in the outfield by a wave of security personnel.
Jones said it was “stupid” for anyone to trespass on the field and said the punishment should be harsh.
“They should let us have a shot to kick ’em with our metal spikes,” the All-Star center fielder said.
Wei-Yin Chen (1-1) weathered five innings for the win, giving up four runs and nine hits.
Nova (1-1) was tagged for seven runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings.
“Two things: The sinker didn’t sink and it was up in the zone. And his curve wasn’t sharp,” Girardi said.
“He wants to go to the next level as a pitcher. He has to put two halves together,” he said.
Alfonso Soriano and Kelly Johnson hit solo home runs for the Yankees and Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits.
Rookie Yangervis Solarte struck again, too, with a pair of doubles - he’s hit safely in his first six career starts and is 11 for 24 overall with six doubles.
Young was 1 for 6 this season before manager Buck Showalter gave him this start. The designated hitter had an RBI single in the fourth that finished Nova and added his first homer, a two-run drive in the sixth. Wieters connected in the eighth.
Ryan Flaherty also had three hits for the Orioles after starting the year in a 1-for-21 rut. One of his hits was an early bunt single when Francisco Cervelli, a catcher making his first pro appearance at first base, ranged too far wide and in to field the ball.
NOTES: Carlos Beltran’s RBI double marked the first run permitted by Baltimore in the first inning this season. … Nova had allowed four or fewer earned runs in 24 straight starts since September 2012. That was tied with Hiroki Kuroda for the longest such string by a Yankees pitcher since Ron Guidry’s 27-game streak ended in 1982. … With David Robertson on the disabled list, Girardi said RHP Shawn Kelley will likely be the closer. … Soriano hit his 407th career home run. … RHP Masahiro Tanaka (1-0) starts the series finale Wednesday night in his Yankee Stadium debut vs. RHP Miguel Gonzalez (0-1).
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