BALTIMORE — For a team that desperately needed a win, the Yankees turned to their ace.
Gerrit Cole spoke before the fireworks began.
Cole, who got off to the longest and best start of the shortened season, performed like he did in his old days, pitching six strong innings to lead the Yankees to a 4-1 victory over the Orioles on a muggy, tense Friday night at Camden Yards.
Before the night was over, the benches emptied in the bottom of the ninth inning, when tempers erupted after Clay Holmes smashed a 0-2, 97-mph sinker into Heston Kierstad’s helmet in the rain.
The incident began when Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, who was eventually ejected, stormed toward the Yankees dugout and argued with someone who appeared to be assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes.
After order was finally restored, Holmes recorded the final two outs to move the Yankees (57-39) to within one game of the Orioles (57-37) for first place in the AL East. With two games remaining before the All-Star break, they are 3-5 against the Yankees this season.
Cole has stepped up as the stopper as the Yankees’ starting struggles have led to losses in 18 of their past 25 games through Friday.
On a night when the Yankees were coming off a tough series against the Rays and their bullpen was thin, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner threw a season-high 106 pitches, struck out seven and struck out 13 of the last 15 batters he faced.
The bottom of the Yankees’ lineup built a 2-0 lead in the second inning, before Aaron Judge hit his 33rd home run of the year in the third inning to cut the lead to 3-1.
Judge, who entered the night in a slump with just four hits in 31 at-bats since his last home run on July 2, threw a total of 17 pitches and drew four walks.
The Yankees came into Friday’s game with a thin bullpen after three straight games against the Rays saw Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes all pitch 12 1/3 innings, with none of them completing the fifth inning.
Cole needed 46 pitches to complete the second inning.
But then he went into lockdown mode and blitzed through the fifth inning, getting Cedric Mullins on a single and then advancing to second on a throwing error by Anthony Volpe.
Gleyber Torres slid to stop a ground ball to center field and got the out at first base, preventing Mullins from scoring.
Cole then struck out Gunnar Henderson with a 98 mph fastball, then got Adley Rutschman out on a popout to get out of the danger.
In the sixth inning, with a runner on first base, Cole leapt to catch the ball off Kjellstad’s bat and threw it to first base for the final out of the inning, ending his night in style.
The Yankees’ relief pitchers continued their strong week, with Tommy Kahnle, Luke Weaver and Holmes each pitching one scoreless inning to seal the win.
