Rizzo makes NYY history: 'Definitely special'

At this rate, Anthony Rizzo might work his way into the American League MVP Award race during the final two months of the regular season -- or perhaps Monument Park.

OK, so neither of those things will be happening anytime soon, but Rizzo continued to make his presence felt in his first week with the Yankees, helping spark Wednesday night’s 10-3 win over the Orioles at Yankee Stadium.

• Box score

For the Yankees, it clinched their seventh series win in the past eight. Their 16-8 record during that stretch is tied with the Rays for the best in the Majors.

“We've had a lot of people really contributing,” Yanks manager Aaron Boone said. “Whether it's the starting pitching, the bullpen, guys up and down the lineup, the guys obviously we brought in at the Deadline.”

Rizzo was one of those guys, acquired from the Cubs on July 29 to help bring some left-handed balance to the Yankees’ lineup. All he’s done in his first six games is slash .400/.519/.850 with three home runs and six RBIs, becoming the first player in franchise history to drive in a run in each of his first six games with the team.

Rizzo’s fourth-inning solo home run seemed to wake the Yankees’ bats, which had gone hitless against Matt Harvey through the first three innings. Rizzo became the first player in Yanks history to record an RBI in each of his first six games with the club.

Facing a 3-0 deficit in the fourth, the Yankees scored twice in the inning, then tied the game in the fifth on DJ LeMahieu’s RBI single, the first of four RBIs for the second baseman. New York broke the game open with a five-run seventh, a rally highlighted by Giancarlo Stanton’s three-run double.

Rizzo was one of those guys, acquired from the Cubs on July 29 to help bring some left-handed balance to the Yankees’ lineup. All he’s done in his first six games is slash .400/.519/.850 with three home runs and six RBIs, becoming the first player in franchise history to drive in a run in each of his first six games with the team.

“It's definitely special,” Rizzo said. “To be able to come in at the Trade Deadline and have success right away, it's something I'll never take for granted.”

“From Jump Street, he's fit right in,” Boone said. “He's easy to be around, he loves playing the game, he loves talking the game. There’s a laid back way and energy about him, but he's also this awesome competitor, too. He’s been a perfect guy to place in the room.”

The Yankees’ lineup looked lifeless during the first three innings Wednesday night, held hitless by Orioles right-hander Matt Harvey. The only batter to reach base in that time was Rizzo, who worked a memorable 13-pitch walk while launching several would-be home runs that just refused to stay fair.

“It's one of those at-bats that gets the crowd going early on,” Boone said. “That’s one of the things he's known for and one of the things we love about him. He’s another one of those guys that makes it difficult, and the more we can do that as a group, the better we’ll be offensively.”

Jameson Taillon, who didn’t factor into the decision despite allowing only three runs (two earned) and striking out 10 over 6 1/3 innings, had one thought in his head as he watched Rizzo’s first-inning battle with Harvey: he couldn’t wait to see his next trip to the plate.

“I think he had like seven exit velos of like 95-plus mph, he was just pulling them foul,” Taillon said. “On the pitcher's side of that, it's like, ‘Shoot, I've thrown him everything I have. He seems to be on everything, he's just out front, but he's finding his barrel.' I was actually looking forward to his next at-bat, because he was on every pitch, he was seeing the ball well and he had probably seen everything he had. Sure enough, he hits a homer.”

With the Yankees trailing, 3-0, in the fourth, Rizzo’s solo home run off Harvey put New York on the board with its first run -- not to mention its first hit.

“Seeing all of his pitches there helped out,” Rizzo said. “Whenever you grind a pitcher like that, I feel like it always goes to the advantage of the hitter. I worked a walk, and then and seeing him the next time, he just left one over the middle there and I put a good swing on it.”

Gleyber Torres added an RBI single in the fourth, then DJ LeMahieu tied it with an RBI single in the fifth for the first of his four RBIs.

New York broke the game open with a five-run seventh, a rally highlighted by Giancarlo Stanton’s three-run double, as the Yankees cruised to another series victory.

The Yanks are 5-1 since Rizzo and Joey Gallo arrived on the scene, albeit against a pair of last-place clubs in the Marlins and Orioles. On Thursday, the Yankees will open a four-game series in the Bronx against the Mariners, one of the other teams in the thick of the American League Wild Card race.

Rizzo will try to become only the second player in the past 70 years to have an RBI in each of his first seven games with a team. The other? Former Yankees star Bobby Murcer, who drove in runs in each of his first seven games with the 1977 Cubs. Rizzo, a former Cub, will try to accomplish the same feat in pinstripes.

“The Orioles beat us up pretty good the first game, we came back and won the next two,” Rizzo said. “You just take it day by day, put your head down, grind. You look up, and you start rattling off wins. It’s fun and you get some momentum going, but the day-to-day grind doesn't stop. It doesn't matter, win or lose, you’ve got to come in the next day and prepare for the next day's pitcher.”