NEW YORK — The brakes are off for the Yankees offense.
One night after piling up 13 runs on 15 hits, including nine runs in the first four innings, the Yankees plastered the Orioles bullpen for eight runs on nine hits and three walks to take care of business against the AL East bottom dwellers.
The Yankees broke open a tie game with five runs in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth as they buried the Orioles,10-3, in front of 30,055 fans on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
In the process, the Yankees gutted out their seventh series win over their last eight and improved to 58-49 — nine games over .500 for the first time since May 23.
After falling behind by three runs after four innings, DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres provided a spark to pull the Yankees back.
LeMahieu ripped three hits across the fifth and eighth innings, including the go-ahead RBI single up the middle in the seventh to make it 4-3 and a two-run double down the left-field line in the eighth. He finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs — his most RBIs since he drove in five against the Blue Jays on Sept. 15, 2020.
Giancarlo Stanton struck the big blow with the bases loaded with a towering pop down the right-field line that landed just inside the line and scored three more to make it 7-3.
Torres plated the Yankees' second run of the game in the fourth and added an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh. He is now 6-of-12 with two doubles and four RBIs in his last four games.
The Yankees' late surge came after they were held without a hit against Orioles starter Matt Harvey in the first three innings. Anthony Rizzo got the offense into gear in the lineup's second turn with his first home run as a Yankee at home into the bullpen in right-center field.
Taillon turning it on
Midseason form has taken on a new meaning for Jameson Taillon.
The 29-year-old right-hander struggled over the first two months in his return from the second Tommy John surgery of his career.
But over the last month and a half, Taillon has been arguably the Yankees' best starter with six wins in his last seven starts.
Wednesday was not Taillon's best outing during that stretch but he came on strong.
In the opening inning, Cedric Mullins and Ramon Urias collected singles to open the game and then moved into scoring position on a bobble by Joey Gallo in left field. Ryan Mountcastle knocked a sacrifice fly to right and Austin Hays blooped an RBI single into left to make it 2-0.
Mountcastle continued his hot series with his sixth hit in three games — a solo home run to right field in the third — giving the Orioles a 3-0 lead.
But that was their lone damage of the evening.
Taillon spotted his fastball up in the zone and worked in a devastating curveball to strike out 10 across 6⅓ innings. He pitched four perfect innings in his first start since being name the American League's Pitcher of the Month for July.
Taillon did not issue a walk until there was one out in the seventh when he was pulled by Boone to a solid ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd.
The Yankees' bullpen trio of Jonathan Loaisiga, Clay Holmes and Albert Abreu shut the door with 2⅔ scoreless innings.
Rizzo's run
In his opening at-bat, Rizzo saw 13 pitches, fouling off nine including a towering shot into a suite above the 200 level in right field.
The Yankees first baseman settled for a walk and was promptly thrown out at second base on a double-play ball off the bat of Judge.
Rizzo finally squared up a pitch in his next at-bat in the bottom of the fourth, launching his first Yankee Stadium home run as a member of the Yankees into the bullpen in right-center field.
With the solo home run, Rizzo became the first player in franchise history to collect an RBI in each of his first six games with the team. He is only the fourth player in major league history to drive in a run in his first six games with a new team, joining Bobby Murcer, Jim Wynn and Jim Spencer who all did it in the 1970s.
