Aaron Judge and Chase Headley smashed two-run homers apiece while Sonny Gray pitched 5 2/3 strong innings as the new york yankees took the finale of the three-game series with a 9-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles Thursday at Camden Yards. Starlin Castro and Todd Frazier also homered while Gray (9-9) allowed just one run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts as the Yankees took two of three from the Orioles, winning a series for the first time in Baltimore since September 2014. Matt Holliday, Didi Gregorius, Jacoby Ellsbury added an RBI each as the Yankees trimmed the Boston Red Sox’s lead in the AL East to 3 ½ games.

“It was definitely real nice to take the mound with a three-run lead, but what was really impressive and what I was real happy about was we didn't just stop,” said Gray, who clinched his first win in four starts at Camden Yards. Judge, for his part, hit his 39th homer of the season, good for second all-time in the rookie home run list. Judge is tied for the lead with Khris Davis in terms of homers in the American League this season, but they are far behind Miami Marlins’ slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who leads the MLB in homers with 53 entering Thursday’s play.

Kevin Gausman took loss for Orioles

Kevin Gausman (10-10) was saddled with the loss after giving up five runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts in three innings of action.

"I threw a lot of good pitches early on," Gausman said. "But overall just wasn't throwing enough strikes.” Adam Jones put the Orioles on the board in the sixth when he scored on a throwing error by Gregorius. With the loss, the Orioles (71-69) fell 4 ½ games behind the Yankees for the first wild card. The Yankees took a 3-0 lead in the first behind Gregorius’ RBI double and Judge’s two-run homer.

In the third, the Yankees padded their lead to 5-0 behind RBIs by Holliday and Ellsbury before Headley hit a two-run shot in the fourth for a 7-0 advantage. After Castro clubbed a solo shot in the 6th, Jones scored on a throwing error by Gregorius. However, Frazier homered in the 7th for the final tally.

Yankees mourn death of ex-GM

The Yankees wore black armbands on their left jersey sleeves as they mourned the passing of Gene Michael, their longtime player, scout, manager and general manager. Michael died of a heart attack Thursday at age 79. Yankees manager Joe Girardi dedicated their victory to Michael, who was known as “Stick” during his tenure with the Bronx Bombers.