That was wild: A few takes on the O's 14-inning win in the Bronx

Some days there is no reason to complain that a lot of the Orioles offense comes from the longball. Like last night, when they hit four homers in the marathon 7-3 win over the Yankees in 14 innings.

All of last year the Orioles won two games at Yankee Stadium. This year they have two wins there nine days into the season.

Manny Machado hit two solo homers - both shots over 400 feet - for his first two homers of the season. It was his 15th career multi-homer game and he went 4-for-5. Chris Davis connected for his first and Pedro Álvarez hit a grand slam off Jonathan Holder in the 14th to give the Orioles a win that took five hours and 20 minutes.

Álvarez, not even on the O's roster until they signed him March 3, began this game on the bench and without good career numbers versus the Yankees. But he entered in the 10th and took one mighty swing that must have had fans erupting all over Birdland. It was his third career slam. Before last night he was a lifetime .158/.183/.316 hitter against New York, with no home runs in Yankee Stadium in 34 plate appearances.

In the last of the 10th last night, right-hander Mychal Givens used 14 dominant pitches to strike out in order Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, getting Stanton with a 97.2 mph fastball.

But Givens will be more remembered for what he did at the plate on defense in the last of the 11th. He threw a pitch to the backstop and it looked like that would provide New York a walk-off win. But with Didi Gregorius charging down the line fron third, catcher Caleb Joseph flipped Givens the ball and got Gregorius out at the plate on a remarkable play. Givens rushed in and threw his body to the ground just as he was catching Joseph's toss to make a tag. He completely blocked the plate. New York asked for a review, believing Givens violated the home-plate-collision rule. But it seems that doesn't apply to a pitcher. It's quite different when a catcher is in place at the plate awaiting a throw.

Meanwhile, Rule 5 pick Pedro Araujo got his first major league win. He pitched a 1-2-3 last of the 12th. He walked Judge to lead off the 13th and then got out Stanton, Gregorius and Gary Sánchez. That was rather impressive. Last April he was pitching for Myrtle Beach in the Carolina League. Last night he was getting out the Yankees' $325 million man with the game on the line.

In 2017, the Orioles went 2-8 at Yankee Stadium and gave up 10.2 runs per game. This year they are 2-0 there, allowing 2.5 runs per game.

The Orioles will win this four-game series if they get a victory today or tomorrow. They've ensured themselves of a split. Coming into this series New York was looking for its fourth consecutive series win over the Orioles for the first time since July of 2011.

Thanks to Álvarez, Machado, Givens, Araujo and many more, that won't happen now.

On the farm last night: The Triple-A Norfolk Tides first became an Orioles affiliate in 2007 and they won on opening day. They have not won an opener since. Gwinnett beat Norfolk 3-1 last night as the Tides lost on opening day for the 11th straight season. A crowd of 11,131 looked on at Harbor Park.

Right-hander Yefry Ramirez made his Triple-A debut and took the loss despite yielding only one run and one hit over four innings. Lefty Tanner Scott threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts on 20 pitches in his Triple-A debut. DJ Stewart went 1-for-4 with a single in his first game at this level.

Double-A Bowie (1-1) beat Harrisburg 7-1 as right-hander Jordan Kipper pitched seven strong innings. He allowed four hits and one run with no walks and eight strikeouts to tie his career-high. Austin Hays hit a two-run homer for the Baysox.

Single-A Frederick (2-0) whipped Myrtle Beach 10-0. Cristian Alvarado went six innings on six hits and 91 pitches to get the win. In his Carolina League debut, Tyler Erwin pitched three to get the save. Preston Palmeiro and Ryan McKenna each went 3-for-5. Randolph Gassaway drove in two runs after he had three RBIs in the opener. The Keys have won the first two by a combined 16-2 score.

Single-A Delmarva (2-0) beat Asheville 6-5 behind a 13-hit attack. Kirvin Moesquit had four hits and Zach Jarrett homered. Cameron Bishop went six, allowing four hits and one earned run to get the win. Bishop, Zach Muckenhirn and Alex Katz combined for 12 strikeouts after the Shorebirds staff fanned 14 on opening day.

🐂 El Toro with the game winner! #Birdland pic.twitter.com/Dky6D2eUIZ

-- Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 7, 2018