NEW YORK -- In a jarring seven-pitch sequence in the fifth inning, the rejuvenated New York Yankees showed just how dangerous an opponent they could be during the stretch run. Royals Jerseys 2020 . Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run homer and Robinson Cano singled in two runs during a five-run fifth that helped the Yankees pick up an ineffective CC Sabathia and beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-5 Friday night. "If I could keep these guys in the game we got a good chance of winning," Sabathia said. "I was barely hanging on there but these guys come up with a bunch of runs." And quickly. Trailing by two runs in the fifth against Miguel Gonzalez, Curtis Granderson led off with a double on the fourth pitch of the inning. Two pitches later, Mark Reynolds doubled to left-centre field. Then on Gonzalezs next offering, Suzuki knocked a fastball into the seats in right-centre for a 5-4 lead, and New York never trailed again. By adding Alfonso Soriano and getting back Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, manager Joe Girardi can bat Granderson sixth and Reynolds, another slugging newcomer, seventh in a suddenly-potent Yankees lineup. "We feel our lineup is a lot deeper," Girardi said. "It definitely helped." Soriano connected for a two-run shot in the fourth off Gonzalez (8-7), and Rodriguez had an RBI single in the seventh inning of a late August game that felt more like October. In a playoff-race twist, Reynolds had three hits, including an RBI double when the Yankees batted around in the fifth. Last year he helped Baltimore reach its first post-season since 1997 with seven homers and 11 RBIs in seven games against New York beginning on Aug. 31. An August pickup by New York from Cleveland this season, Reynolds was right in the mix as the Yankees gained ground in the wild-card race. They began the day 1 1/2 games behind the Orioles, who trailed Oakland by 3 1/2 for the second AL wild card. "It makes it fun," Reynolds said. "I have so many good friends over there. Last year we wanted nothing more than to kick these guys tails, now I want nothing more than to beat them." Sabathia (12-11) lasted just 5 2-3 innings and yielded five runs and seven hits. In his last eight games, he has a 7.39 ERA. Girardi then relied on the majors best bullpen since Aug. 16 (1.14 ERA) to hold off Baltimore. Shawn Kelley, Boone Logan and David Robertson, who got four outs, paved the way for Mariano Rivera. Robertson got more than three outs for the second time this week and for the third time all year. Rivera was perfect in the ninth for his 39th save. "Right now its getting tight. We need to win every opportunity we can. I was prepared to come in the seventh inning," said Robertson, the Yankees primary setup man. Gonzalez, making his first start since Aug. 20, is winless in his last six decisions as a starter. Coming in, though, he had a 2.20 ERA over five starts in the Bronx. "It wasnt just Miguel tonight," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He pitched as well as youd want but couldnt get over the hump." Both starters were locked in early. Sabathia retired his first 10 batters and Gonzalez 10 of 11, allowing only a walk in the third -- erased on a double play. But it turned ugly quickly. After Sabathia struck out Nate McLouth to open the fourth, Manny Machado laced an opposite-field liner that bounced over the wall in foul territory in right field for his 46th double. He advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Chris Davis single. Gonzalez got two quick outs in the bottom half before walking Cano. Soriano then hit his 11th homer in 27 August games to put New York up 2-1. "Hes playing like an MVP, when you look at the month of August," Girardi said. "Hes been a complete player for us." Nick Markakis led off the fifth with a single and Danny Valencia sent a drive into the Orioles bullpen in left-centre for a 3-2 lead and his sixth home run. Alexi Casilla walked, stole second and was sacrificed to third by Taylor Teagarden. One out later, Machado drove in Casilla with a single. In the bottom half, after Suzuki homered to right-centre to end a homerless drought of 131 at-bats, Austin Romine kept it going with a double to right field. Brett Gardner singled and Jeter walked to load the bases and chase Gonzalez. Cano, who missed a game after being hit on the hand by a pitch Tuesday, singled in two more runs for a 7-4 lead. Gonzalez allowed six hits and seven runs. He walked three. "I left the ball up and theyre a good team, and they take anything you give and try and score runs," Gonzalez said. "Its tough for a pitcher to lose a lead twice -- we could have won it but I let them down. I have to go deeper and minimize the big inning." NOTES: For the first time this season, 3B Rodriguez and SS Jeter were the starting duo on the left side of the infield at Yankee Stadium. ... The Yankees will push back struggling right-hander Phil Hughes to Monday and start LHP Andy Pettitte on Sunday in the finale against the Orioles. ... Baltimore acquired OF-1B Mike Morse from Seattle for outfield prospect Xavier Avery. A .284 career hitter, Morse slumped to .226 with 13 homers and 27 RBIs in 76 games in his return to Seattle after four years with Washington. Kansas City Royals Gear . Or maybe he already did. Clark hit his first homer, Wily Peralta pitched into the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 Wednesday night. Kansas City Royals Pro Shop . Ontario Superior Court Case Management Master Ronald Dash released the decision on Monday, saying John McCaw Jr. must testify in front of a jury by live video conference. Moores lawyer, Tim Danson, asked the court to compel McCaw - who is based in Seattle - to testify in the case back on February 27. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points.MOSCOW - U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic won the Kremlin Cup on Sunday, beating Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4 in the final.The big-serving Croat, seeded second, broke his Spanish opponent once in each set at Moscows Olimpiisky arena to take his 13th career title and fourth of the season.Earlier Sunday, sixth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Romanias Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 to win the womens event.The eighth-ranked Cilic said his serve, usually his main weapon, was not at its best.I wasnt able to hit big bombs. I was today playing more in combinations and I was playing a bit better from the baseline, he said. It was many difficult physical rallies.Cilic secured qualification Friday for next months ATP Finals in London and said he was in good form to face the rest of the worlds top eight.Im going to be motivated to do well, he said. Ive been winning a lot of matches in indoors which is for sure one of my favourite surfaces to play.Cilic becomes the first Croatian man to win the Moscow ATP 250 tournament since his coach Goran Ivanisevic beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1996.In Bautista Agut, Cilic faced a close friend but one he had not played competitivelly since an under-14 tournament 12 years ago. Kansas City Royals Store. The 16th-ranked Spaniard is now 2-2 in career finals.In the womens final, Pavlyuchenkova seized her chance when Begu tired after two evenly-matched sets.Playing in her home city, Pavlyuchenkova skipped across the court with joy after converting her second match point to become the first Russian woman to win the Kremlin Cup since Elena Dementieva in 2007.Its just the best possible way to end the season, Pavlyuchenkova said. It was a really tough match. I just couldnt have lost at home.The Russian is now 7-3 in career WTA finals. The Kremlin Cup is her seasons second title after the Open GDF Suez in Paris.Pavlyuchenkova dropped just one set in the five matches she played on the way to the title, none of them against a seeded opponent.World No. 61 Begu is 1-3 in finals. This was her first final since 2012.Absent from the trophy presentation was Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpischev, who was banned for a year by the WTA on Friday over derogatory comments about the Williams sisters.Tarpischev did, however, attend the presentation for the mens final, which was under the auspices of the ATP. ' ' '