NEW YORK — Hailed youngster Colton Cowser scored an RBI single on his major league debut and got the go-ahead when fellow rookie Jordan Westburg followed with a two-run triple and defeated Dean Kremer and the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 passed the New York Yankees Wednesday night.
Kremer (9-4) hit a career-best 10 in seven innings with four hits. Ryan O’Hearn hit a two-run home run in the ninth, and All-Star relief players Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista combined for the last six outs while the second-placed Orioles won for just the second time in eight games.
Josh Donaldson and Anthony Volpe hit home runs for the Yankees, who won the first two games of a four-game series between the AL East playoff contenders. Kyle Higashioka had an RBI single.
Rookie Randy Vásquez was called up by the Minors to secure a seed spot needed due to last Friday’s rain in St. Louis. He gave New York five excellent innings and went 2-0 up after throwing 75 pitches.
Cedric Mullins doubled with an out in game six against left-hander Nick Ramirez (0-1) and finished third with a sharp single from Aaron Hicks, who was stopped by a diving Donaldson behind third base.
Cowser, just called up from Triple-A Norfolk, scored his first career goal in right field, chasing Ramirez. Westburg, another top contender brought out of the Minors late last month, tripled on Michael King’s first pitch on a jumping Jake Bauers in left field to give Baltimore a 3-2 lead.
Westburg then scored with the infield before Volpe threw Adam Frazier’s RBI grounder to the plate for a short stop.
New York started the day with the best bullpen ERA in the majors.
Volpe’s solo home run against Cano made it 4-3 in the eighth set, but Bautista made four outs on his 23rd save.
TRAINING ROOM
Orioles: All-Star LF Austin Hays (hip injury) sat out the third game in a row. Baltimore coach Brandon Hyde said Hays is getting better by the day and could potentially be used off the bench before hopefully returning to the lineup in a day or two.
Yankees: CF Harrison Bader was given a scheduled night off after being hit in the left wrist by a pitch on Tuesday. …OF Billy McKinney was again absent from the starting line-up after recently fouling a ball off his toe. But he pinched an infield single in the eighth round as a pinch-hitter and stayed in the game in left field. New York manager Aaron Boone said McKinney will hopefully return to the starting XI on Thursday night. … DH/OF Willie Calhoun (left quadriceps strain) has started swinging the racquet a bit, but there’s no timeline for his return and it won’t be until after the All-Star break.
NEXT
Orioles RHP Kyle Bradish (4-4, 3.58 ERA) meets RHP Luis Severino (1-3, 6.30) in Thursday night’s finals of the four-game series.
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