NEW YORK, 19 August 2006 — Nick Markakis homered and drove in four runs as the Baltimore Orioles routed the New York Yankees 12-2 in American League play Thursday at Yankee Stadium.
Brian Roberts led off the game with a home run and Fernando Tatis also homered for the Orioles, who handed the Yankees their second straight loss on the eve of New York’s five-game weekend series with the Boston Red Sox.
The NL East leaders will now carry just a 1-12 game lead into the big series, which opens Friday with a day/night doubleheader at Fenway Park.
“The spoiler role doesn’t matter,” Roberts told reporters.
“It just feels good to play well, to win. It’s not like we have a preference of who wins the East.
“Whatever. I think it’s more about us, trying to play better [and] trying to finish well. I think that’s the most important thing.”
The Orioles scored three runs in both the third and fourth innings and added five runs in the sixth to turn the game into a rout, giving them two of three games in the series and seven wins in their last 12 games against the Yankees.
Baltimore only had nine hits, with Miguel Tejada, Tatis, Roberts and Markaris all contributing a pair of hits to the attack. Roberts and Markaris also both scored three times.
Jay Gibbins two-run single in the third inning drove in the go-ahead runs as the Orioles got to a wild Yankees starter Jaret Wright early.
Wright (9-7) allowed five runs on just two hits in three-plus innings, but he walked four and all four of them scored, while striking out two, to take the loss.
Rodrigo Lopez pitched seven strong innings for the Orioles, as the Yankees managed just seven hits after a pair of early home runs put them in front 2-1 after two innings.
Lopez (9-12) allowed two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. Russ Ortiz and Bruce Chen finished up with a scoreless inning of relief each.
In Chicago, Paul Konerko’s RBI double in the eighth inning gave the White Sox a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals, allowing the defending World Series champions to salvage a split of their four-game series.
The AL wild card leaders struggled with the Royals, who have the worst record in the major leagues, before finally hanging on to snap a two-game skid.
Mark Buehrle (10-10) allowed two runs on six hits over six innings for the win, striking out three and walking three.
Bobby Jenks allowed a run on two hits but managed to get the last four outs for his 34th save. Pablo Ozuna and Jermaine Dye homered for the White Sox, who had just six hits, including two each by Ozuna and Konerko.
Odalis Perez (0-1) took the loss for the Royals, allowing four runs on five hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked one.
