Gerrit Cole, trade deadline pickups come up big in Yankees impressive win over Orioles

BALTIMORE — For a team that’s remained firmly in the playoff picture even without its best player, the Yankees still rarely make it easy on themselves.They have to scratch out runs on a regular basis and they’ve relied an awful lot on their top relievers.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

But on Thursday, as they seemingly got some potentially positive news on Aaron Judge, they also looked like a team that’s poised for a strong finish.Not only did they win a fourth straight game for the first time since the All-Star break, but they played about as complete a game as possible to finish off a sweep of the Orioles.The 6-1 win at Camden Yards featured a sterling effort from Gerrit Cole, contributions from two trade deadline acquisitions — Heliot Ramos and Luis García Jr.— who have mostly slumped since getting to the Yankees, as well as an opposite-field homer by Spencer Jones.And the victory got them back to within 4 ½ games of first-place Tampa Bay and four games up on the Red Sox for the top spot in the AL wild-card race.Against right-hander Kyle Bradish — who tossed six shutout innings against the Yankees in May — the lineup this time had more success, as the Yankees scored at least five runs in consecutive games for the first time since July 9-10.A three-run third inning started with back-to-back singles by Jones and Austin Wells and was aided by a costly error.With runners on the corners, José Caballero hit a potential double-play ball, but shortstop Gunnar Henderson dropped Jackson Holliday’s throw from second. Jones scored on the play and the Orioles failed to record an out.Trent Grisham then grounded into a double play, but Ben Rice singled in a run and Ramos — just 2-for-33 in his previous 10 games — delivered a double to make it 3-0.Cole, after allowing a one-out single to Pete Alonso in the first, retired 11 straight batters b...