BALTIMORE — All the Yankees needed to get their offense going was some help from Mother Nature.
Stuck in another game in which they seemingly couldn’t score a run, the Yankees were down by two runs to the Orioles with Aaron Judge at the plate in the fifth inning when a hail storm halted the game for nearly an hour.
When play resumed, the Yankees quickly erupted for four runs in a 5-2 win at Camden Yards.
Josh Donaldson provided the big blow, a two-run shot that put the Yankees ahead, as the fifth straight batter to reach base in the inning — a day after 13 in a row had been retired.
It had been shaping up to be more of the same for the Yankees, who were shut down through the first four innings by Tyler Wells, the right-hander who gave up four runs and was knocked out in the second inning in his first career start last Sunday against the Rays.
Aaron Hicks led off the game with a ground ball single into the shift to the left side of the infield. Aaron Judge followed with a single to center, as the Yankees’ first two batters of the game reached for a second consecutive night.
They failed to capitalize on Friday and they did the same on Saturday.
With Anthony Rizzo — currently their best hitter — at the plate, Hicks was caught trying to swipe third with Baltimore again in a shift. Wells’ throw to third baseman Ramon Urias was in plenty of time.
After Rizzo grounded out, Giancarlo Stanton flied to right.
After Jose Trevino started the third by ripping a single into left-center, Hicks bunted, seemingly in an attempt to get a hit, but it went right to Urias at third for an out. With Trevino on second, Judge sent one to the track in right, but Anthony Santander made the catch.
Rizzo was hit by a pitch and after two screaming foul balls, Stanton walked to load the bases for Donaldson, who grounded out meekly to third.
It left the Yankees 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
The Orioles went ahead in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-run homer by Cedric Mullins. Austin Hays started the innings with a sharp single to center and moved to second on a bunt by Jorge Mateo. Anthony Bemboom grounded out for the second out before Mullins turned on a 3-0 four-seam fastball for a 433-foot homer.
The Yankees’ offense finally woke up in the fifth, following the hail delay.
With one out and Hicks on first thanks to a walk before the delay, Judge worked a walk against new pitcher Travis Lakins Sr.
Rizzo then came through with a single to right that scored Hicks to make it 2-1.
Stanton followed with a booming double to the wall in center. It drove in Judge to tie the game. Third base coach Luis Rojas sent Rizzo, and he was thrown out at home thanks to a strong throw by shortstop Jorge Mateo.
But the slumping Donaldson crushed a two-run homer to center to give the Yankees a 4-2 lead.
Taillon came back out to pitch the bottom of the fifth and immediately gave up a deep fly ball to Rougned Odor, a single to Hays and another ball to the track to Mateo. Bemboom then walked on four pitches to end Taillon’s night.
Left-hander JP Sears came in to face the lefty-swinging Mullins in Sears’ second MLB appearance. He walked Mullins to load the bases loaded, but got Urias to fly out to right.
The Yankees added to the Yankees’ lead in a wild top of the sixth, as they knocked Lakins out with a Isiah Kiner-Falefa single and a Jose Trevino double. With the infield in, Hicks grounded to short and Kiner-Falefa was out at home. Judge followed by reaching on catcher’s interference to load the bases for Rizzo. A wild pitch by Paul Fry scored Trevino from third to make it 5-2.
Sears left with two on and two out in the sixth, replaced by Michael King, who walked Hays on four pitches to load the bases for Mateo.
King recovered to get Mateo swinging. Clay Holmes got the final four outs for the save.
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