NEW YORK (Interstat) — Will Warren pitched six-plus innings of three-hit ball and Ben Rice homered and drove in three runs as the New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 on Friday night at Yankee Stadium II before 41,239.

Warren, who improved to 4-0 with a 2.81 ERA, struck out nine and walked two, allowing one earned run over 6 1/3 innings. He had been sharp in his previous two starts, allowing two earned runs in each while recording wins against Houston and Kansas City. The right-hander’s only blemish Friday came on a solo home run by Pete Alonso.

Cade Povich took the loss for Baltimore, falling to 1-1. The left-handed starter allowed five runs on four hits over 2 2/3 innings, striking out three and walking two. Albert Suárez provided 2 2/3 innings of relief, yielding one run on one hit with three strikeouts.

The Yankees struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Cody Bellinger doubled to right-center field, scoring Aaron Judge who had walked, to give New York a 1-0 lead.

Baltimore answered immediately in the top of the second when Alonso led off with his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field, tying the game 1-1.

But the Yankees broke the game open in the bottom of the second, sending nine batters to the plate. After Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out, José Caballero homered to left field, his fourth of the season, to put New York ahead 2-1. Austin Wells struck out, but Trent Grisham doubled and Paul Goldschmidt walked. Rice then crushed a three-run home run to right-center field, extending the lead to 5-1. Aaron Judge singled and Bellinger doubled before Amed Rosario struck out to end the inning.

Warren settled in after the second, retiring 10 of the next 11 batters he faced. He allowed only two singles after the second inning, both in the third and seventh innings, and struck out the side in the top of the first and fifth innings.

Baltimore trimmed the deficit to 5-2 in the top of the seventh. Samuel Basallo singled to center field, and a fielding error by Trent Grisham allowed Alonso, who had walked, to reach third. Dylan Beavers grounded out to first base, scoring Alonso.

The Yankees answered in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Judge walked and Bellinger walked. Amed Rosario singled to center, scoring Judge to make it 6-2. Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked to load the bases, but Caballero flied out to left to end the inning.

New York added an insurance run in the eighth. Austin Wells singled to center field, and after Grisham and Goldschmidt flied out, Rice singled moving Wells to second. Judge then singled to center, scoring Wells for the final margin of 7-2.

Camilo Doval pitched a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts. Jake Bird worked a scoreless ninth, allowing no hits and striking out one. Fernando Cruz got the final out of the seventh inning after Warren was pulled.

The Orioles managed only three hits in the game. Alonso went 1-for-2 with a home run, a walk and a run scored. Blaze Alexander and Basallo each had a single. Baltimore struck out 13 times.

The Yankees collected 11 hits. Bellinger went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Rice was 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Judge had two hits and two walks, scoring twice. Caballero homered and added a single.

Baltimore dropped to 15-17 with the loss, while New York improved to 21-11. The Yankees have won four of their last five games.

The series continues Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The Orioles then travel to Miami for three games before returning home to face the Athletics. The Yankees host the Orioles again Monday, then welcome Texas for three games before a road trip to Milwaukee.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of New York 7, Baltimore 5. The Yankees were listed as a -1.5 pregame favorite and held an Elo-based win probability of 64.8 percent. The total of nine runs went under the over/under line of 8.5.