NEW YORK – Two experienced players were traded and a pair of young pitchers were humbled on a painful day for the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium.
Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher and the New York Yankees broke loose for 12 runs in the first inning Saturday night, setting a franchise mark en route to a 17-3 rout of Baltimore that completed an embarrassing sweep of their split doubleheader.
"We're not as good as them right now, especially not tonight," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "We'll keep grinding and working and our guys will remember a night like tonight and try to do the things to be more competitive."
After the blowout, the last-place Orioles sent first baseman Derrek Lee to Pittsburgh for minor league first baseman Aaron Baker.
During the game, Baltimore announced it had traded setup man Koji Uehara and cash to Texas for right-hander Tommy Hunter and infielder Chris Davis.
"Kind of emotional for all of us, but they got a good player and we got some good people back in return, from what I understand," Showalter said, referring to the Uehara deal. "We're excited for him and we're excited for the people who are coming back here."
Cano went 5 for 5 with five RBIs, a career high for hits, and Swisher smacked his second two-run homer of the day in the nightcap. Curtis Granderson added four hits for the Yankees, who roughed up both pitching prospects called up from the minors to start for Baltimore: Chris Tillman and Zach Britton.
"If they're going to be what we think they're going to be, stuff like that will be something they'll reach back for and get better as a result of it," Showalter said. "And one day, it will be on the other foot."
New York opened a 15-0 lead after two innings, making it an easy night for Ivan Nova (9-4) in his return from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Swisher had three hits in the opener and the Yankees backed Bartolo Colon (8-6) with plenty of production from the bottom of the lineup in an 8-3 victory.
Swisher finished the day 6 for 10 with four runs and five RBIs.
"I think it was a great day for the Bombers, no doubt," he said. "We sent a message,"
By the late innings, it literally had become dangerous for Baltimore's brutal pitching staff. Mark Hendrickson and Mike Gonzalez were both drilled by searing line drives, and neither threw another pitch.
Showalter said Hendrickson's shoulder was OK and the lefty was getting X-rays on his hand.
X-rays on Gonzalez's wrist were negative, the manager said.
"Hopefully, we dodged a bullet there. Whether they're DL candidates or not, we're going to look at," Showalter said. "Obviously, we're going to need some arms in here tomorrow. But the good news is Hunter is going to be one of them."
Baltimore has dropped 17 of 23 overall.
Swisher homered and drove in three runs in the first inning of the nightcap, following up his big game in the afternoon. Cano had a pair of RBI singles and the Yankees sent 16 batters to the plate in an offensive outburst that lasted 40 minutes.
New York banged out 10 hits in its biggest inning since a 13-run eighth on June 21, 2005, against Tampa Bay.
"We were bound to have a breakout game like this," Swisher said.
A two-run single by Derek Jeter in his second at-bat chased Britton (6-8), recalled from Double-A Bowie before the game. Britton got only one out, throwing a called third strike past Jeter to start the inning.
Mark Teixeira hit a two-run double off reliever Jason Berken, and Swisher added a two-run homer to cap the scoring. After a walk to Andruw Jones, Berken finally ended the frenzy when Martin grounded into a force play on the 70th pitch of the inning.
"It wasn't about stuff today. It was about execution," Britton said. "It's tough to swallow. The game's over in the first inning. As a position player, I can only imagine what they're thinking."
Baltimore helped the Yankees with a pair of errors, including a costly one by shortstop J.J. Hardy. Six of the 12 runs were unearned.
The 23-year-old Britton left trailing 7-0 and was ultimately charged with nine runs — six earned — and seven hits. He also walked a batter.
His previous big league start was nearly as bad. The highly touted left-hander got just two outs on July 8 at Boston, where he was roughed up for eight runs — and six hits in a 10-3 loss.
After that game, his third straight loss, he was sent down to Double-A, where he stayed for three weeks.
Even after their big first inning, the Yankees weren't done. Eduardo Nunez hit a leadoff triple in the second and Cano capped a three-run inning with a two-run double.
Jones, who hit an RBI double off the top of the left-center fence in the first, added a leadoff homer in the third against Berken to make it 16-1.
Vladimir Guerrero went 4 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs for the Orioles in the nightcap.
New York is 8-1 in the season series, outscoring Baltimore 78-28, though three of the games went to extra innings.
Baltimore recalled Tillman from Triple-A Norfolk to start the first game and he looked sharp early before fading fast.
With the score tied at 2, Tillman (2-4) issued a leadoff walk to Cano in the fourth and fell behind Swisher 2-0. Swisher sent a two-run drive to right, giving New York the lead for good. Cervelli added an RBI single.
After making 35 pitches through three innings, Tillman doubled that total in the fourth. It was his first big league start since May 27 at Oakland.
"It's been a long two months," Tillman said. "It's a work in progress. It won't change overnight."
The right-hander was optioned back to Norfolk between games to make roster room for Britton.
NOTES: Baltimore placed RHP Brad Bergesen on the paternity leave list. Bergesen left the team to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. ... Jeter got his 3,020th hit, tying Rafael Palmeiro for 24th place on the career list.
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