Aaron Judge, Juan Soto go back-to-back as Yankees top Orioles again to move into tie for AL East lead

BALTIMORE — The Yankees and Orioles’ benches-clearing madness Friday night avoided any fisticuffs, as did Saturday’s game.

But the Yankees spent Saturday afternoon throwing punches with their bats while Luis Gil put the Orioles in handcuffs to secure back-to-back wins and a series victory for the first time in a month, and climb back into a tie for first place in the AL East.

Austin Wells delivered the first haymaker with a three-run homer in the first inning before Juan Soto and Aaron Judge went back-to-back in the fifth.

Along with six strong innings from Gil, it was more than enough to lift the Yankees to a 6-1 win over the Orioles on a sticky and sweltering day at Camden Yards in front of a sellout crowd of 44,018.

As rough as things have gone for the Yankees (58-39) since the last time they won a series before Saturday — June 10-13 against the Royals — they now have a chance to enter the All-Star break in first place in the division if they can finish off a sweep of the Orioles (57-38) on Sunday.

“We needed it big-time, to bounce back and get on track,” Soto said. “It’s part of the game. We were going out there and trying our best, things weren’t going our way. But we keep trying until we find a way. We did a great job today to get the series and try to get the sweep [Sunday].”