O's hit four homers, Norris leaves with injury in win over New York

Bud Norris exited the game early due to an injury and that was not good. Some fly balls exited the park early on and for the O's offense, that was good.

Norris went five innings to get the win and the Orioles backed him with four homers to tie a season high in a 6-1 win over the Yankees in front of 47,165 at Yankee Stadium this afternoon.

Norris came out to pitch in the last of the sixth, but left before the inning began due to right groin tightness. He gave up just three hits and one run with two walks and four strikeouts. He threw 82 pitches.

Norris improves to 7-5 with an ERA of 3.62. He has allowed just two runs in 19 2/3 innings over his past three starts. In four June starts, he is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.55.

The last of the Orioles homers today was the first in a long time for shortstop J.J. Hardy. His solo homer in the eighth ended an 87-game and 339-at-bat homerless stretch that dated to Sept. 5.

Adam Jones hit a solo shot off Vidal Nuno in the first. It was his 13th of the season and seventh career at Yankee Stadium. Nelson Cruz hit No. 23, a two-run shot in the fourth, and Steve Pearce added a two-run shot an inning later.

Over his last four games, Pearce is 8-for-16 with four doubles, two homers and seven RBIs. He is batting .421 (16-for-38) since June 6.

With the win the Orioles are 38-35 and have won 12 of their last 20 games. They are 20-13 against the American League East, including a 3-2 mark against New York. The Orioles are 7-5 in a 13-game stretch against division rivals.

In the series finale on Sunday afternoon, Chris Tillman (5-4, 4.82 ERA) pitches against New York ace Masahiro Tanaka (11-1, 1.99 ERA).