DJ LeMahieu led off the game with a home run, and Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks also blasted long balls as the visiting New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 on Wednesday night.

The game was Baltimore's home opener, and it was supposed to be played versus Miami, but the Marlins had a COVID-19 outbreak this week.

The Orioles-Marlins games scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Florida were wiped out. The Yankees had their four-game set with Philadelphia postponed, as the Phillies were the Marlins' most recent opponent. Instead, New York was rerouted to play Wednesday and Thursday in Baltimore.

Yankees starter Gerrit Cole improved to 2-0 through two starts for his new team, going 6 2/3 innings and giving up three runs on four hits. He fanned seven while walking two. Cole has won 18 decisions in a row dating back to last season.

Asher Wojciechowski (0-1) settled down after a shaky start for the Orioles, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out seven. Three of the hits he permitted were homers.

Home runs and victories were the key for New York against Baltimore last year. The Yankees won 17 of 19 and crushed 61 homers. They added three in the first 2020 meeting between the two and now have beaten the Orioles 17 consecutive times.

LeMahieu started the game with his home run, and Mike Ford added a sacrifice fly later in the first for a 2-0 lead. The Yankees never trailed again.

The Orioles cut the lead to 2-1 when Jose Iglesias hit an RBI double in the bottom of the first. But New York broke things open in the top of the third.

Judge hit a homer about five rows into the left field seats, and Hicks pulled a two-run shot into the seats later in the inning for a 5-1 margin. The Yankees made it 7-1 with back-to-back RBI singles from LeMahieu and Judge in the sixth.

Judge was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double.

After the first, the Orioles didn't get another hit until the seventh when Renato Nunez doubled and Dwight Smith followed with a two-run homer that made it 7-3.

Chris Davis was left out of the lineup for Baltimore and wasn't at the ballpark. The Orioles aren't commenting on COVID-19 situations for players, so Davis' situation remained unclear as no roster moves were made.

--Field Level Media