NEW YORK � The Yankees have proven they can subdue the Orioles with or without hitting home runs and with or without a strong start on the mound.
They'll get only one more chance to do so in Wednesday's series finale, having improved to 16-2 against Baltimore with Tuesday's 8-3 win at Yankee Stadium.
On the horizon is a four-game set with AL Central frontrunner Cleveland � which will cap a stretch of 19 games in 17 days � followed by a nine-game West Coast swing with stops at wild-card hopeful Oakland and two-time NL champ Los Angeles.
Just one ball hit by a Yankee left the park on Tuesday, and it was the first one that Orioles starter John Means threw to DJ LeMahieu. After that, a parade of base hits provided the run support for Domingo German (16-2) and fueled New York's 80th victory of the season.
German gave the Yanks seven innings of five-hit, two-run ball, striking out seven. While he continued to look like a potential Game 1 postseason series starter, he also got closer to a career-high total of pro innings in a single season (120).
In other words, the right-hander's usage down the stretch could become a delicate balancing act.
"The bottom line is, we obviously have a very good pitcher for us this year that continues to get better at his craft, and it's somebody that we'll obviously watch closely," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the game. "But you could see his role potentially evolve in different ways as the final month-and-a-half plays out."
German threw 123.1 innings in the minors in 2014 and 123.2 (109.1 in the majors) two years ago.
