Anthony Rizzo belts three home runs for the Yankees in win over Orioles

NEW YORK – Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo kept swinging for the fences Tuesday night, clearing the wall three times at Yankee Stadium.

For the first time in his career, Rizzo hit three home runs in one game, boosting the Yanks toward a 12-8 win against the Baltimore Orioles.

Rizzo collected six RBI and took over the MLB lead in home runs with eight.

“He’s full-on a Yankee, he’s entrenched,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “He knows the guys and he’s a central figure to this team in every way.

“I think we’re seeing a settled, great player,’’ Boone said of the first baseman, signed as a free agent this offseason after coming over via trade from the Chicago Cubs last summer.

“He’s such an anchor for us defensively and in the middle of our lineup,’’ Boone said. “Besides being a great player, there’s so many intangibles he brings to the table every day that have really been impactful.’’

Rizzo's third homer survived an umpires' review in the eighth inning - a towering fly to right field that landed just inside the foul pole near the 314-foot mark.

And that made it back-to-back homers for the Yanks, after Aaron Judge - on his 30th birthday - launched a solo shot over the left field wall, his fourth home run of the season.

In his fourth start of the year, Yankees' starter Luis Severino was nearly perfect through five innings.

He still had a no-hitter into the sixth inning, when it was broken up by Orioles' No. 9 hitter Jorge Mateo’s soft liner to left.

Two batters later, Anthony Santander’s fly ball, three-run homer to left cut the Yanks’ lead to 6-3.

Severino had retired the first 14 Orioles he faced before Austin Hays drew a full-count walk on an inside breaking pitch with two out in the fifth.

One batter later, second baseman DJ LeMahieu saved the no-hit bid with a sprawling catch of a Ramon Urias liner ticketed toward center field.

While his no-hitter was intact, Severino’s pitch count was in his favor; he had thrown just 61 pitches entering the sixth inning, and he was coming off an 88-pitch start last Wednesday at Detroit.

The Yankees led 6-0 after five innings on a pair of home runs by Rizzo and a solo shot by Joey Gallo against Baltimore right-hander Jordan Lyles.

Rizzo’s two-out, three-run homer in the third was a 348-foot towering fly ball that dropped into the first row of right field seats, just eluding the leaping attempt of right fielder Anthony Santander.

According to Statcast, the location of Rizzo’s team-leading sixth homer of the season would not have produced a home run in any other current MLB park except Yankee Stadium.

In the fourth, Gallo’s opposite field shot to left-center field was his first homer of the year, coming in his 57th plate appearance of the season.

Gallo had collected his first extra-base hit (a double) and RBI of the year in Sunday's 10-2 win against Cleveland.

Rizzo’s fifth inning, two-run shot vaulted him into the MLB lead with seven homers.

Pete Caldera is the Yankees beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Yankees analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: caldera@northjersey.com Twitter: @pcaldera

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Anthony Rizzo three home runs for Yankees in win vs. Orioles