Nova, No Runs DMC Hold O's to One, A-Rod Goes Deep As Yanks Take Game One of Four, 2-1

On a beautiful night in the Bronx, the New York Yankees took game one of the four-game set against the Baltimore Orioles. Taking the ball forNew York and seemingly pitching for his spot in the rotation was Ivan Nova, who improved to 7-5 while lowering his ERA to 4.92 with his tremendous performance in tonight's contest. Getting the call for Baltimore was 25-year-old right-hander Kevin Gausman, who leads the league in lack of run support, receiving under 3.5 runs a game so far in 2016. Tonight's game was all about a long-overdue bomb by Alex Rodriguez and some stellar situational pitching by the Yankees that led to their game one win.

Both teams went scoreless in the first, marking the 22nd straight game that the Yankees have failed to score in the first inning. Alex Rodriguez, however, would put the Yankees on the board first in the bottom of the second inning, launching a 423 ft home run into the bleachers in left field, giving the Yankees a 1-0 advantage.

The Orioles were quick to respond to the A-Rod blast as they came back to tie the game in the top of the third. Jonathan Schoop's breakout season continued as the second baseman drove in his 54th run of the year, launching a Nova 2-seamer into the bullpen in left, knotting up the game at one.

Just as the O's were quick to tie the game, so too were the Yanks quick to get the lead back in the bottom of the frame. Brett Gardner led off the third with a soft single to left, advancing to third as part of a hit-and-run that was executed nicely with an opposite field single by Carlos Beltran. With runners at the corners and one out, Brian McCann sent a lazy sac fly to centerfield that scored Gardner and gave New York a 2-1 lead.

Ivan Nova was able to take that lead into the seventh where he was lifted in favor of No Runs DMC,  departing with a phenomenal final line of six innings pitched, allowing just the one run on four hits while walking three and striking out four. Delin worked a scoreless seventh, striking out Schoop with the tying run on third to end the inning. Miller worked a scoreless eighth and Chapman fired off a scoreless nineth as he recorded his 19th save of the season and pulled the Yankees back up to .500.

Look for the boys in pinstripes to keep it rolling tomorrow night as they square off against Baltimore in game two, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM ET.