The Yankees understand their recent dominance over the Orioles can’t last forever, yet there were no slumped shoulders in the dugout as they prepared for a final turn at bat on Thursday. It wasn’t too late to “All Rise,” and Aaron Judge ensured that their good times could carry on for a while longer.

Judge launched a titanic three-run homer in the ninth inning, powering New York’s 8-6 victory over the Orioles. With the home opener on deck, the blast sent the Yanks to their buses celebrating an 18th consecutive victory over Baltimore, and their 17th straight win at Camden Yards.

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“We’re never out of a game,” Judge said. “With this offense that we have, guys that can get on base with power -- it doesn’t matter if it’s a one-run lead, two-run lead, three-run lead. I think we’ve always got a shot going into every inning.”

The drive off right-hander Cole Sulser came with Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu aboard, and it was Judge’s third career go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later. It came after Baltimore’s Pedro Severino hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Jonathan Loaisiga, with the right-hander in his third inning of relief following a rain delay of one hour and 34 minutes.

“We had a couple of big at-bats to finally get that big hit to finally break through,” said manager Aaron Boone, who added that right-hander Tommy Kahnle was not available, promising that the club would provide more details on Friday. “For guys to continue to grind on a rainy night, a long night, I’m proud of that effort that guys were able to stay locked in.”

Zack Britton struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save, recording his 500th punchout in the process. New York’s 18 consecutive victories over the O’s is the club's third-longest winning streak versus a single opponent in franchise history, behind a 21-game streak vs. the St. Louis Browns in 1927 and a 19-game streak over the Athletics from 1938-39. The 17 straight wins at Camden Yards are a franchise record for a road winning streak.

“It’s just a hitter-friendly park,” Judge said. “You saw that tonight, with the majority of the runs coming off home runs. They’ve got a short fence in left-center and right-center. If you get it up in the air, it’s going to have a pretty good chance of getting out.”

Luke Voit connected for his first career grand slam in a five-run first inning, a drive off left-hander John Means that cleared the left-center-field fence. Giancarlo Stanton also notched a run-scoring single in the first inning, part of a three-hit performance, as left-hander J.A. Happ was staked to a healthy cushion.

Happ struggled with the long ball last season, permitting a career-high 34 home runs, and the veteran tinkered with his mechanics this past winter in hopes of correcting the issue. There is still work to do, as Hanser Alberto cracked a two-run homer in the first inning and Rio Ruiz launched a two-run shot in the second off Happ, who completed four innings in his season debut.

“I think it’s a tale as old as baseball with pitchers; I was rushing a little bit,” Happ said. “I was probably anxious after they got on the board early. I think it’s fixable, but it would have helped me get in some better counts if I had stayed on that back leg a little bit. I’ll try to focus on that.”

Gleyber Torres exited Thursday’s game in the fourth inning. He was hit on the right elbow by a Means pitch in the first inning and remained in for one more at-bat, flying out to left field in the third inning. X-rays were negative, and Torres said that he hopes to play in the Yanks’ home opener on Friday against the Red Sox.

“It’s sore a little bit,” Torres said. “It’s getting better and better now. During the game, I tried to stay in but I felt really tight. I couldn’t throw 100 percent. I didn’t want to make a mistake at shortstop.”

The victory concluded an eventful 4-1 season-opening road trip for the Yankees, who split their first two games against the Nationals in Washington, D.C., then spent two nights in a Philadelphia hotel as their games against the Phillies were postponed due to COVID-19 testing.

This Orioles series was moved up from next week, with no official indication of how that will alter the schedule after this weekend’s home series against the Red Sox. Boone summarized the journey as “2020-ish,” and Judge said he viewed it in a positive light.

“It was great. We’re playing baseball,” Judge said. “There’s a lot of things going on in the world, but to play some baseball and be back with the guys, it’s something special. We’re excited that this is the start of it, and I can’t wait for the rest of the year.”