BALTIMORE — Alex Rodriguez cut off Alfonso Soriano’s throw home in the fifth inning that gave the Orioles another run, and Soriano was visibly upset, thinking the Yankees may have had a play at the plate.
After the Yankees came back and beat the Orioles 7-5 Tuesday night, Soriano joked he devised a simple plan to make up for what had happened.
“I thought, ‘OK, that’s one run. Let me hit a home run and get it back,’ ” Soriano said with a laugh.
It would be fair, though, to wonder if Soriano actually were kidding.
He did hit a homer in the top of the sixth off Baltimore starter Miguel Gonzalez to start the comeback and make it 4-2.
Then the left fielder added an opposite-field, two-run shot in the eighth to give the Yankees the lead.
It was just another chapter in the rebirth of Soriano, who has 15 homers since returning to the Yankees on July 26 after hitting 17 in 93 games with the Cubs.
“I’m having fun right now playing for a team that’s a contender,” Soriano said. “Every game counts, every pitch. Before, the Cubs were not in the race and in last place. They’re not a good offensive team. Here, it’s different.”
And whatever chance the Yankees have of getting to the postseason, they can largely thank Soriano, who has played as significant a role as anyone in the new-look lineup.
“We’re confident even when we’re losing 4-1,” Soriano said. “We believe we have a very good offense and you have to get 27 outs.”
Those outs are harder to come by these days.
“I followed the Yankees early in the season and they had a lot of injuries, but with Alex [Rodriguez], [Curtis] Granderson and me, it’s a better lineup and the pitcher has to work more, especially [Tuesday] when it’s very hot and humid,” Soriano said.
Whatever the reason, the Yankees did seem to take advantage of a worn down Baltimore staff.
“I think they got tired,” Soriano said. “After four or five innings, it can get tough to face all those hitters, and we can get a big inning.”
It paid off Tuesday, as the Yankees hung on in the wild-card race at least one more day.
“Every game now is very important,” Soriano said. “We can’t lose our focus any game because we know we can come back at any time.”