Aaron Judge’s first-inning home run, Cam Schlittler’s strong outing lead Yankees to 12-1 win over Orioles

The Yankees got on the board early and didn’t look back, beating the Baltimore Orioles 12-1 on Monday night to complete the four-game sweep.

Here are the key takeaways…

— New York’s bats came to play in the first inning as Trent Grisham doubled and Aaron Judge hit one “high, far, and gone” for his 14th home run of the season, giving the Yanks an early 2-0 lead. In honor of legendary broadcaster John Sterling, who passed away on Monday, Michael Kay called the slugger’s sixth first-inning HR of the season a “Judgian blast.”

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— Grisham stayed hot in the third innin with another double to the wall and advanced to third on a throwing error. Shane Baz wanted no part of Judge for a second time, intentionally walking the slugger, but let up a sac fly to Cody Bellinger as the Yanks took a 3-0 lead.

— Cam Schlittler came out firing, throwing the three fastest pitches of his career (101.3 mph, 101.1 mph, and 101 mph) for a scoreless first inning, including a strikeout of Dylan Beavers. The right-hander kept it going in the second, hitting 101.1 mph on the gun again during the four-batter frame with one walk.

Schlittler got hit in the back of the knee on a comebacker in the third inning, as Blaze Alexander reached first safely. Aaron Boone and a team trainer came out to check on him, but he remained in the game. After Gunnar Henderson singled, New York’s defense stepped up to help Schlittler with a 4-6-3 double play. He then won a nine-pitch battle against Beavers with a 101.2 mph heater, his fifth 101-plus mph pitch of the night.

The fifth inning was nearly a duplicate of the fourth, as Schlittler let up back-to-back singles and got a double play. This time, he closed it out on a flyout. Schlittler loaded the bases in the sixth inning with two outs, and after a mound visit with pitching coach Matt Blake, walked in a run to end his night, up 3-1. Jake Bird came through with a big strike out against Jeremiah Jackson for the third out.

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— After reaching base for a third time in the fifth inning, Grisham showed his defensive skills in the top of the sixth inning with a nice running catch on Adley Rutschman‘s fly ball. It was McMahon’s turn to pull off a web gem in the seventh inning, snagging a Beavers’ line drive for the third out.

— Jasson Dominguez was ruled out trying to score from third base on a passed ball in the sixth inning, but the replay showed otherwise, and New York won the challenge to make it a 4-1 game. Ryan McMahon pushed the lead to 5-1 with an RBI single to left field, scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third base and knocking Baz out of the game. José Caballero kept the foot on the gas, ripping a double off the left field wall to put NY up 6-1.

— New York blew it open in the bottom of the eighth inning against former Yankee Lou Trivino, scoring six runs to go up 12-1. Grisham picked up an RBI on a bases loaded walk, Judge drove in another on a single, Bellinger cleared the bases with a three-run triple, and Dominguez added another on a single.

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

Schlittler dominated for most of the night, tossing 95 pitches (59 strikes) over 5.2 IP, allowing seven hits, and striking out four with three walks. He threw 21 pitches that clocked in at 100 mph or more, per Statcast.

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Highlights