masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgFor the Orioles the offense finally came.

It came in a seven-run explosion which featured a pair of three-run homers in the top of the seventh today as the Orioles beat the Yankees 7-3 to win the series finale and avoid being swept.

Shutout for the last two days without one extra-base hit through six innings today, J.J. Hardy hit a three-run homer to give the O’s a 4-3 lead and Adam Jones smoked a three-run shot to center to make it 7-3.

Michael Morse and Danny Valencia singled to lead off…For the Orioles the offense finally came.

It came in a seven-run explosion which featured a pair of three-run homers in the top of the seventh today as the Orioles beat the Yankees 7-3 to win the series finale and avoid being swept.

Shutout for the last two days without one extra-base hit through six innings today, J.J. Hardy hit a three-run homer to give the O’s a 4-3 lead and Adam Jones smoked a three-run shot to center to make it 7-3.

Michael Morse and Danny Valencia singled to lead off the seventh and Matt Wieters came up with an RBI single to cut the Yankees’ lead to 3-1 and end a 1-for-24 run.

Hardy followed with his 24th homer and second hit of the game after he went 0-for-13 the last four games. Later Jones hit his 28th homer and he now has 98 RBIs.

The seven runs matched the Orioles biggest inning of the year and snapped the O’s 18-inning scoreless streak. The Orioles were 8-for-50 at bat Friday and through the first six innings today, before going 6-for-9 with two homers in the seventh.

This was just the third time all year the Orioles hit two three-run homers in the same game and first time they did it in the same inning. Chris Davis and Ryan Flaherty did it June 29 vs. New York and Jones and Hardy did it previously July 12 vs. Toronto.

Earlier, Wei-Yin Chen struggled again, giving up four hits, three runs and a career-high five walks over just four innings. He has allowed 11 runs over 7 2/3 innings in his past two starts.

Kevin Gausman pitched two scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts to get his second major league win, with both coming vs. New York. Tommy Hunter pitched the eighth and Darren O’Day worked a shutout ninth.

It was a much-needed win for an Orioles team that began today 1-4 on this road trip and had lost eight of their last ten and 11 of 17 American League East games.

The win improves the Orioles to 8-7 against the Yankees, 19-20 since the All-Star break, 34-34 on the road and to 72-63 for the season as the road trip now heads to Cleveland.