BALTIMORE (Interstat) — Aaron Judge launched his 49th home run of the season, Giancarlo Stanton crushed a three-run shot for his 450th career homer and Carlos Rodón delivered a masterful performance on the mound as the New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-1 on Saturday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The victory, witnessed by a crowd of 37,675, pulled the Yankees within two games of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East with seven games remaining in the regular season. Toronto lost to Kansas City on Saturday. The Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker over New York.

Stanton provided all the offense the Yankees would need in a decisive first inning, staking Rodón to an early lead. After leadoff hitter Trent Grisham and Ben Rice were retired, Aaron Judge sparked the rally with a sharp ground ball single to right field. Cody Bellinger followed by lining a single to right, moving Judge to third base. Stanton then stepped in and demolished a 1-0 offering from Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano, sending a towering fly ball into the right-field stands for a three-run homer and a quick 3-0 Yankees lead.

Judge expanded the lead in the top of the third inning, leading off the frame by taking Sugano deep to left field for a solo shot, his 49th of the year, making it 4-0.

Sugano’s night ended after three arduous innings. He was charged with four earned runs on six hits, walking one and striking out three while throwing 87 pitches. He fell to 10-9 with the loss.

The Yankees added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to further pad their advantage. In the fifth, Bellinger walked, stole second base, and then scored on an RBI single from Jazz Chisholm Jr. that was deflected by shortstop Gunnar Henderson. In the sixth, Anthony Volpe singled and later scored on another RBI single from Grisham.

That was more than enough support for Rodón, who was brilliant over seven strong innings. The left-hander held the Orioles to just one run on four hits, striking out eight without issuing a walk. He efficiently controlled the Baltimore lineup, throwing 63 of his 87 pitches for strikes and improving his record to 17-9.

The Orioles’ lone run came in the bottom of the seventh inning off Rodón. Tyler O’Neill worked a walk, advanced to third on a groundout, and scored on a double by rookie first baseman Coby Mayo.

The New York bullpen extinguished any faint hope of a Baltimore rally. Luke Weaver struck out two in a perfect eighth inning, and David Bednar worked a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the victory.

For the Orioles, reliever Jose Espada provided a bright spot with three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, striking out four. Mayo had two of Baltimore’s four hits, including the RBI double.

The Yankees improved to 87-68 with the win, while the Orioles fell to 73-82. The two teams conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

The game time was 2 hours, 35 minutes.