Lineups and more on Santander's offensive surge (O's down 11-6)

NEW YORK - Ty Blach makes his Orioles debut tonight in Game 2 of the doubleheader, the 52nd player they've used this season and four short of last year's club record.

Blach hasn't started in the majors since Aug. 11 with the Giants. He's working on three days' rest after throwing 61 pitches in his lone start with Triple-A Norfolk.

DJ LeMahieu is 3-for-7 lifetime against Blach and he's leading off tonight.

The Yankees are going with the opener strategy and sending Chad Green to the mound.

Green has started 10 times among his 40 appearances this season and hasn't gone more than 2 1/3 innings in any game. He owns a 5.19 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in 18 career appearances against the Orioles over 26 innings.

Chris Davis is 2-for-10 with two home runs and five strikeouts against Green. Trey Mancini is 3-for-5 with two doubles. They're both in the lineup.

For the Orioles
Jonathan Villar SS
Trey Mancini RF
Anthony Santander CF
Renato Núñez DH
Jace Peterson LF
Chance Sisco C
Hanser Alberto 2B
Chris Davis 1B
Rio Ruiz 3B

Ty Blach LHP

For the Yankees
DJ LeMahieu 3B
Aaron Judge RF
Gio Urshela DH
Gleyber Torres SS
Brett Gardner CF
Cameron Maybin LF
Austin Romine C
Mike Ford 1B
Breyvic Valera 2B

Chad Green RHP

Anthony Santander is in center field after collecting three more hits in Game 1 and raising his average to .310 with an .869 OPS. He singled in the first and eighth innings and hit his 10th home run in the sixth.

Santander has collected multiple hits in five of his last seven games and gone 12-for-30 (.400) in that stretch, including four doubles and two home runs.

The question of whether he might be optioned has grown extinct.

"He's really swinging the bat well," said manager Brandon Hyde. "I love Tony's ABs. I think he really competes at the plate.

"It's like that first at-bat, really great at-bat off (James) Paxton where he fouls off a bunch of pitches and then punches a single into center field. Just really competitive. And then he smokes a homer. Yeah, love Tony's game right now."

Santander's first career home run was hit on April 8, 2018 at Yankee Stadium. Today's homer was his 10th of the season.

He isn't the same player.

"I think the biggest difference is the experience," he said via translator Ramón Alarcón. "I have a better understanding of what pitchers are trying to do against me, and also playing regularly really helps."

Four of Santander's 10 home runs have been hit right-handed. The only homer hit last year in 33 games came from the left side.

"The everyday work that I'm putting in is giving me this kind of results," he said, "so I'm just thankful for the opportunity to play and come every day and work hard."

Update: Brett Gardner's three-run triple in the first gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

Update II: The lead grew to 4-0 in the second on Chance Sisco's throwing error.

Update III: Hanser Alberto tripled in the third and scored on Rio Ruiz's bouncer, and Mancini hit a two-run homer to reduce the lead to 4-3.

Update IV: Mike Ford homered in the fourth for a 5-3 lead.

Update V: Gleyber Torres hit a three-run homer off Evan Phillips in the fifth and a three-run shot off Tom Eshelman in the sixth. Alberto hit a three-run homer in the seventh and the Orioles trail 11-6.