Orioles don't let Yankees rain on wild card parade

NEW YORK - The Orioles are serious about getting the home wild card game. It's not just about making the playoffs.

It's about making the most of the opportunity.

The Orioles hit three home runs tonight in the top of the fifth inning, giving them 250 for the season, and they coasted to an 8-1 rain-soaked victory over the Yankees in the Bronx.

The win improved the Orioles' record to 88-72. They hadn't scored more than six runs since Sept. 10.

The Blue Jays blew a 3-1 lead over the Red Sox in the seventh inning and are trailing 5-3. The Orioles can take over the top spot if Toronto loses. The Tigers are winning big and should stay 1 1/2 games behind.

Only four other teams have hit 250 or more home runs in a season: The 1997 Mariners (264), the 2005 Rangers (260), the 1996 Orioles (257) and the 2010 Blue Jays (257).

A 2-1 lead was stretched to 8-1 in the fifth on a leadoff homer from Adam Jones, a two-run shot from Mark Trumbo and a three-run shot from Jonathan Schoop.

Neither team had a hit until Chris Davis singled with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. J.J. Hardy followed with a single, the ball deflecting off third baseman Chase Headley's glove, and Schoop brought them home.

Schoop swung at the first pitch and popped it foul. He also attacked the next one and lined the double into right-center field.

The double gave Schoop four hits in his last nine at-bats. He was in a 0-for-22 slump going into Wednesday's game.

Schoop wasn't done. He became 5-for-10 with his three-run homer off left-hander James Pazos, his 25th of the season. His five RBIs matched a career high set on May 14 versus the Tigers.

The Orioles are the 12th team in major league history with five or more players with at least 25 home runs in the same season. The last team to do so was the 2012 White Sox, who also had five players. The 2003 Red Sox hold the record with six players.

Jones led off the fifth inning by reaching the second deck in left field, his 29th home run of the season. No shutdown inning for Michael Pineda after the Yankees scored in the bottom of the fourth on Headley's leadoff walk, Brian McCann's one-out single and Mark Teixeira's sacrifice fly.

Hyun Soo Kim reached on an infield hit and Trumbo hit his 47th home run of the season, only a few pitches after putting a foul ball into the fourth deck.

According to STATS, the Orioles hit three home runs in the same inning for the 10th time this season to lead the majors.

Yovani Gallardo allowed one run and two hits in six innings, with four walks and three strikeouts. He threw 102 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Gallardo has allowed three earned runs or fewer in eight of his last 10 starts. He's surrendered three runs in his last two starts over 12 innings.

Left-hander Brian Duensing retired the side in order in the seventh and Darren O'Day did the same in the eighth. Tyler Wilson escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth.

The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning and failed to build on their lead. They also loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth and didn't score.

Davis had a walk, single and double in his first three plate appearances.

Note: The Yankees are starting Luis Severino on Saturday. The spot had been TBD.