NEW YORK _ The hits kept coming. One after another, the Yankees stepped to the plate and lashed base hits all over the field. They launched home runs into the stands. A team whose lineup once looked aged and defeated has morphed into an offensive juggernaut, for now at least.
Riding this offensive firepower, the Yankees have also injected some optimism into a fanbase that had abandoned hope of a playoff appearance.
The Yanks obliterated Orioles pitching again on Saturday, defeating their American League East rival, 13-5, in front of 38,843 at Yankee Stadium.
Joe Girardi's club piled up 18 hits for the second straight game after Friday's 14-run outburst.
Right in the middle of it, once again, was Gary Sanchez.
The 23-year-old sensation hit yet another home run, crushing an offering from Baltimore starter Dylan Bundy into the right-field stands in the fourth inning. Sanchez made history in the process.
Playing in just his 23rd game, Sanchez became the fastest player to reach 11 home runs in major league history.
So the catcher keeps producing. Although on Saturday, he wasn't alone.
Mark Teixeira ignited the offense with an RBI double in the first. Then everyone else joined in the barrage.
Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks each had two-run homers. Castro finished 4-for-6 with three RBIs, while Hicks went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs. Brian McCann, who returned to the lineup after missing Friday's game because of his grandmother's death, went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Brett Gardner had an RBI infield single in the sixth, while Didi Gregorius' RBI single in the eighth capped the scoring.
Pretty much everything went right for the Yankees, who also got a run with the help of a replay review.
With McCann batting and two outs in the third, Castro took off for second base. As soon as catcher Matt Wieters released his throw, Gregorius broke for home. He slid head-first into home and Wieters applied the tag.
Gregorius was originally called out, but Girardi challenged the call. A replay review of 2:08 showed Gregorius got his right hand on the plate before the tag was made.
Chad Green, meanwhile, struggled on the mound. After allowing just one earned run in his previous 12 innings pitched, including a dominant 11-strikeout, two-hitter against the Blue Jays on Aug. 15, Green yielded four runs on seven hits in 42/3 innings.
The 25-year-old right-hander served up three home runs, two of them to Chris Davis. Green also walked two and struck out four in his 87-pitch outing.
