Aaron Judge homered twice after his first-inning drive bounced off the new left-field wall at Camden Yards, and the New York Yankees held off the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 on Tuesday night for their 20th win in 23 games.
Judge came within a few feet of a three-homer game. His bid in the first hit high off the wall — which was moved back and made taller before this season. He settled for an RBI double, then hit solo shots in the third and fifth to increase his major league-leading home run total to 14.
Judge added a single in the eighth for his third four-hit game and first since 2019.
Ramón Urías went deep for the Orioles, who have lost five straight and matched their season high Down 5-3, Baltimore managed a run against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth on a two-out double by Ryan McKenna. With men on second and third, Chapman retired Cedric Mullins on a foul pop for his ninth save in nine chances.
Jameson Taillon (4-1) allowed three runs in five-plus innings. Michael King came on after a leadoff double in the sixth and retired all nine of his hitters with six strikeouts before giving way to Chapman.
After Urías tied the game at 1 with a homer in the second, Judge began hitting to parts of the ballpark that are unchanged this year. His home run to right-center made it 2-1 in the third. After a pair of Baltimore runs in the fourth, Judge tied it with a shot to center.
In the sixth, DJ LeMahieu came up with the bases loaded and one out against Dillon Tate (0-2) and put the Yankees ahead with a groundball. Baltimore then pitched to Judge with first base open, and he grounded out.
An error by Urías at shortstop with two out in the seventh gifted New York an unearned run that made it 5-3.
Trainer’s room: Orioles OF Austin Hays (hand) returned after missing four games. He misplayed Judge’s drive in the first, allowing it to bounce past him off the wall, but he made up for that by throwing Judge out at third.
Up next: The Yankees send Gerrit Cole (3-0) to the mound Wednesday night against Jordan Lyles (2-3) of the Orioles. Cole has a 1.42 ERA over his last four starts.
