The Yankees clawed their way back. They trailed the Orioles by eight runs at one point, but Jacoby Ellsbury’s grand slam in the seventh sliced their deficit to three. A game that once seemed completely out of reach was suddenly within their grasp once again.
They took advantage.
Ellsbury drove in a run in the ninth with an RBI fielder’s choice. Then with two runners on, Starlin Castro blasted a game-tying, two-run home run off reliever Brad Brach to send the Yankee Stadium crowd into a frenzy.
Matt Holliday kept them cheering in the 10th.
Holliday slugged a walk-off, three-run home run to lift the Yankees to a 14-11 win over the Orioles in front of 36,912 at Yankee Stadium on Friday.
With the win, the Yanks pulled even with Baltimore for first place in the American League East.
Jayson Aquino walked Aaron Hicks and Kyle Higashioka to set up Holliday’s heroics.
Aaron Judge earned the first multi-home run game of his career, launching a solo shot in the fifth and a two-run blast in the sixth.
Didi Gregorius returned from the disabled list after missing nearly the entire first month of the season with a right shoulder strain he suffered during the World Baseball Classic.
Gregorius batted sixth. Manager Joe Girardi said he wanted to keep the lineup similar to the way it was when Gregorius was out, and that batting him in that spot would also break up the left-handed hitters.
Although the shortstop’s return displaced Ronald Torreyes, who had played well in his absence, Gregorius had a solid showing in his first game back, making a diving stop to his left in the second inning and hitting a double in his first at-bat.
Long before the Yankees’ comeback, CC Sabathia turned in his worst start of the season, giving up seven runs on nine hits in 52/3 innings.
The Orioles attempted to turn the game into a blowout in the sixth _ although it didn’t stay that way.
Joey Rickard and Adam Jones each singled with two outs, ending Sabathia’s night as Girardi brought in Bryan Mitchell to escape the mess.
But the right-hander couldn’t do it.
He walked Manny Machado to load the bases for Mark Trumbo, who blasted a grand slam deep into the stands in left to put Baltimore up, 9-1, in what seemed like a blowout.
Sabathia’s night started to unravel in the third when the Orioles mounted a two-out rally that ended with Machado hitting a two-run double to give the Orioles an early lead.
Wellington Castillo hit a two-run homer in the fourth, and Machado struck again in the fifth when he led off by crushing a 91-mph fastball from Sabathia to the top of the restaurant in center field for a solo shot.
This was the second straight rough outing for Sabathia, who was strong through this first three starts of the season.
He struggled against Pittsburgh last week, yielding four runs on seven hits in five innings. Sabathia didn’t recover on Friday, although his offense didn’t do much to back him up while he was still in the game.
The Yankees didn’t score until Judge ignited their offense with his first home run in the fifth.