NEW YORK (AP) - No one will accuse Aaron Boone of sleeping on the job.
Coming off a rugged extra-inning loss that stretched past midnight and cost his team four players to injuries and illness, the new Yankees manager didn’t have much time to prepare for Saturday afternoon’s game.
So he slept at Yankee Stadium. He said it wasn’t in his office, but it was a comfortable spot.
“I actually stayed here last night,” Boone said after New York beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-3. “We had so much going on last night. I actually got a good night’s sleep, but it did come quick.”
Sonny Gray pitched six effective innings and rookie Miguel Andujar hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly before the Yankees broke away.
It was 3-all in the sixth before Andujar’s sacrifice fly, scoring Didi Gregorius with his first RBI of the season.
Austin Romine hit a soft pop to shallow right later in the inning that bounced out of first baseman Chris Davis’ glove for a single, allowing Tyler Austin to score and chasing starter Chris Tillman (0-2).
The day after the Yankees used eight pitchers in a 14-inning marathon, Gray gave his team some welcome length. The righty was charged with three runs on four hits, walking two and striking out four.
“We needed it,” Gray said. “Any time you lose a game like we did last night it’s important that you come in the next day, especially with the quick turnaround that we had, it’s important to come in and to win that next game.”
Gray (1-0) dodged trouble with his final batter thanks to newcomer Jace Peterson, who was signed to a major league contract before the game. With runners on second and third and two outs, Peterson snagged Pedro Alvarez’s hard-hit liner on the run, slamming into the left-field wall after making an acrobatic catch.
“You’ve got to prepare to be ready for this opportunity always, no matter what happens in the spring or what happens the day before,” said Peterson, who had played just 40 of his 383 big league games in left field before Saturday. “I was fortunate to run it down and make the play.”
David Robertson entered in the seventh with one out and runners on second and third, fanning the dangerous Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop to preserve the 5-3 lead. Robertson struck out four of the five batters he faced.
Aaron Judge tied the score at 3-all with an RBI groundout in the fifth. He also hit an RBI double in the seventh, giving New York a 6-3 advantage.
Judge has driven in at least one run in a club-record 14 straight home games, tied for fourth-longest since RBI became an official stat in 1920.
Gardner safely reached base four times despite playing on fumes, including a two-run single in the second that gave the Yankees an early lead.
“It’s easy to go home and go to sleep if you win but if you lose a game like that it makes it somewhat more difficult,” Gardner said. “I remember laying in bed last night at, I don’t even know what time it was, but wishing and praying that I could somehow fall asleep.”
Pedro Alvarez doubled in a run in the fourth for the Orioles, a day after hitting a game-breaking grand slam in the 14th.
Machado tied it in the third with a two-out, two-RBI double into the left-field corner. The three-time All-Star is 5 for 9 with two home runs and four RBIs over the past two games
Making his 200th career start, Tillman allowed five runs on eight hits and four walks over 5 1/3 innings, striking out three. He is 0-9 with an 8.63 ERA since earning a victory on May 7, a span of 20 starts.
“There is still another level we know he can go to but we really had a need to get some length out of our starter today and Chris provided that, kept us engaged in the game,” manager Buck Showalter said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: OF Colby Rasmus (left hip flexor strain) was placed on the 10-day disabled list. … Mark Trumbo (right quad strain) was expected to play first base in an extended spring training game.
Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (right hip strain) and 3B Brandon Drury (severe migraines) were both put on the 10-day DL. Sabathia’s MRI results were clean and the club hopes he misses just one start. Drury has been dealing with serious headaches, which have been causing blurry vision. He will undergo tests beginning Monday and there is no timetable for his return. … INF Tyler Wade (flu-like symptoms) received IV treatment and was feeling a little better after experiencing a fever, shakes and dry heaving on Friday. … C Gary Sanchez (leg cramps) was improving after limping off of the field Friday. “At this point it appears to be minor,” manager Aaron Boone said. … RHP Ben Heller on Friday underwent Tommy John surgery, which also involved removing a bone spur from his right elbow.
UP NEXT
RHP Mike Wright Jr. faces LHP Jordan Montgomery in the series finale on Sunday. The 25-year-old Montgomery made five starts against Baltimore last season, going 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA.
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