Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - Nick Swisher homered and drove in five runs in a 3-for-5 effort, as the New York Yankees grabbed their first win of 2009 in dominating fashion by crushing Baltimore, 11-2, in the finale of a three- game set.
Swisher also scored twice for the Yankees, who had started 0-2 for the first time since 1998, a season that ended with a team-record 114 regular season wins and a World Series title. A.J. Burnett (1-0), making his first appearance for New York since signing as a free agent in the offseason, threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk, with six strikeouts.
Mark Teixeira added his first home run as a Yankee, going 2-for-5 in the game. Robinson Cano also homered as part of a 3-for-4 day and scored four times in the victory.
Luke Scott homered for the Orioles, who will take on the reigning AL champion Rays in a three-game series at home over the weekend. Felix Pie and Chad Moeller each added a pair of hits, while Alfredo Simon (0-1) took the loss in his second career start, yielding four runs on four hits and a pair of walks in five-plus innings pitched.
Both starting pitchers were excellent in the early innings. Neither team had a player reach base until Brett Gardner hit a soft bloop single to right field with one out in the third inning.
Gardner stole second, and Jose Molina walked on five pitches in the next at- bat. Derek Jeter advanced the runners to second and third with a swinging bunt, but Johnny Damon grounded out to Huff at first base to end the threat.
Pie singled to start the home third and immediately stole second. Moeller drove a single off Cano's glove at second to put runners on the corners. After Cesar Izturis struck out, Brian Roberts put the Orioles on the board with a single to center, scoring Pie.
Teixeira quickly tied the game for New York, leading off the fourth with a home run to center. Later in the inning, Cano drew a one-out walk and scored on Swisher's homer to right-center, which was just past the outstretched glove of Nick Markakis, to make it 3-1 in favor of the Yankees.
Scott brought Baltimore to within one on a one-out homer to left-center in the fourth, but the Yankees added four runs in the sixth.
Teixeira singled to start the inning, which forced Baltimore to bring in Brian Bass from the bullpen, and Cano singled to left two batters later. Swisher followed with another base hit, scoring Teixeira, and Cody Ransom walked to load the bases.
Gardner was the next batter and seemed to hit an easy ground ball to Bass, but the pitcher's throw home went off Moeller's glove and ended up at the backstop, allowing two runners to score. Molina added a bloop RBI single over a drawn-in infield to make it 7-2 after the half-inning.
Cano blasted an opposite field two-run homer in the seventh inning to extend the Yankees' lead to 9-2, and Swisher's two-RBI double in the ninth capped the scoring.
Game Notes
The Yankees will travel to Kansas City and Tampa Bay for a pair of three-game sets before opening up their new stadium next Thursday...Burnett moved to 8-1 lifetime against the Orioles, including 4-0 in Baltimore...Burnett also became the first New York starter to record a strikeout this season, after CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang failed to record one in their respective starts to open the season...Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Yankees.