Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
NY Yankees 8, Baltimore 5
When: 7:05 PM ET, Friday, September 7, 2012
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
Temperature: 83°
Umpires: Home - Mark Wegner, 1B - Cory Blaser, 2B - Jerry Meals, 3B - Mike Winters
Attendance: 40861
Yankees 8, Orioles 5: Russell Martin hit a three-run homer and Alex Rodriguez added a two-run blast as visiting New York jumped back on top in the American League East.

Steve Pearce chipped in another two-run homer and Derek Jeter recorded three hits and an RBI for the Yankees, who moved one game ahead of Baltimore into sole possession of the AL East lead.

Phil Hughes (14-12) returned to the win column with six solid innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out five and not walking a batter. The right-hander has surrendered two earned runs or less in four of his last five starts.

After having its spirit crushed by six home runs from the Orioles on Thursday, New York returned the favor against Wei-Yin Chen (12-9) on Friday. Chen hit Nick Swisher and walked Robinson Cano to begin the fourth inning and Martin made him pay one batter later, beginning the home run barrage with a towering blast into the seats in left.

Chen recovered to strike out Curtis Granderson but allowed a single to Andruw Jones in front of Pearce, who sent a first-pitch fastball into the front row in left. The ball was just over the leap of left fielder Nate McLouth.

Rodriguez made it a 7-0 gap in the fifth with a blast into the bullpen in left-center. It was his 16th home run of the season and his 300th as a member of the Yankees.

That ended the night for Chen, who was charged with all seven runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.

The Orioles fought back with Adam Jones’ three-run homer in the sixth and Robert Andino’s solo blast in the seventh but could not close the gap.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Swisher almost made it a four-homer night for New York but was robbed of a two-run shot by McLouth in the ninth. Swisher is 0-for-18 on the Yankees’ current road trip. … New York 1B Mark Teixeira (calf) worked out before the game and expects to return to the lineup on Saturday. … Baltimore rookie 3B Manny Machado hit a solo homer off Rafael Soriano in the ninth. … Orioles RHP Chris Tillman (elbow inflammation) has been cleared to long toss.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Yankees   Baltimore
Phil Hughes Player Wei-Yin Chen
Win W/L Loss
6.0 IP 4.2
5 Strikeouts 4
6 Hits 6
3.00 ERA 13.50
Hitting
NY Yankees   Baltimore
Derek JeterPlayer Nate McLouth
3 Hits 3
1 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 5
.600 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
NY Yankees 9 3 18 .250 11 8 8 1 0 1
Baltimore 8 3 19 .222 6 8 5 0 0 0