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NEW YORK -- J.J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent. Nelson Cruz has been hitting homers all season. Cruz hit his 23rd home run, Hardy connected for his first of the year and the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 6-1 after starter Bud Norris left with tightness in his right groin. Adam Jones and Steve Pearce also went deep off struggling soft-tosser Vidal Nuno, helping the Orioles rebound after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss Friday night. "Big win for us," Hardy said. Cruz and Pearce each had a two-run shot. Hardy ended a drought of 339 at-bats that dated to last September. "It definitely felt nice," he said. "I felt like I forgot how to do it." "I think it probably is a little bit of a relief. I started to question myself if I ever was going to hit one again," Hardy added. Mark Teixeira hit his 12th home run for the Yankees, who had won four straight and eight of 10, but that was all they managed against Norris and three relievers. During a pregame ceremony on the field, former New York first baseman Tino Martinez was honoured with a plaque to be placed in Monument Park. Making his first start against the Yankees, Norris (7-5) allowed three hits in five innings and matched a career high by winning his fourth straight start. He warmed up on the mound for the sixth but was pulled for Ryan Webb, who pitched two scoreless innings. Tommy Hunter got the final five outs. Norris said he felt something "kind of funny" while throwing a fastball in the fifth. "It kind of grabbed on me," he said. "Ive had groin stuff before, especially my left one but not necessarily my right one. Youve got to be real careful with those." "I could see it getting a little worse and I wanted to be smart, but really, hats off to the offence for scoring and to the bullpen for picking me up," Norris added. "Pretty sore right now." Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Norris probably will pitch the night game of a split doubleheader Friday against Tampa Bay, but the right-hander said it was too soon to tell. "Weve got other options, but Im hoping we caught it in time," Showalter said. Pressed into the rotation because of injuries to CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda, Nuno (1-4) is having a hard time with the homer-friendly dimensions at Yankee Stadium. He was rocked in his previous outing in Oakland and is 0-4 since beating the Los Angeles Angels on May 7. "This is what we have. And as I said, its not like theres just starting pitchers lying around out there," New York manager Joe Girardi said, explaining that Nuno will stay in the rotation. "Right now, this is what it is." The left-hander yielded five runs -- four earned -- and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. He allowed three home runs and has served up 13 in 39 1-3 innings this season at home, where he is 0-3 with a 7.09 ERA. "My fastball today, I just left it up too much," Nuno said. "I trusted all my stuff today. No regrets and everything, but they just got to my fastball." Jones hit a solo shot with two outs in the first and drew a leadoff walk in the fourth before Cruz connected. Cruz began the day one home run behind Toronto slugger Edwin Encarnacion for the major league lead. "Hes carried us along a lot of the season," Hardy said. Pearces drive made it 5-1 in the fifth, and Hardy went deep off Jose Ramirez in the eighth for his 159th career homer and first since Sept. 5, 2013, against Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox. "We like hitting home runs," Jones said. Back in the dugout, Hardy got the silent treatment. He threw sunflower seeds on himself and was doused with water by Cruz. The two-time All-Star shortstop has hit at least 22 home runs five times, including a career-high 30 with Baltimore in 2011. "Normally I just put my head down and run. This time I kind of watched a little bit to make sure that it got up," Hardy said. "As I was rounding third, I looked into the dugout and no one had moved. So I kind of knew that they were going to sit there." NOTES: Baltimore recalled reliever Brad Brach from Triple-A Norfolk. ... Nuno has allowed 15 homers in 67 1-3 innings overall. ... Pineda (right shoulder muscle) will get another week off after an MRI still showed "a trace of inflammation," Girardi said. ... RHP Masahiro Tanaka (11-1, 1.99 ERA) starts Sundays series finale against Orioles RHP Chris Tillman (5-4, 4.82). Hall of Fame reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage will be honoured with a Monument Park plaque as part of festivities for the 68th annual Old-Timers Day at Yankee Stadium. . Riethers apparent stamp on Manchester United midfielder Adnan Januzaj during Saturdays Premier League match at Craven Cottage was missed by the match officials. A three-man panel of former referees reviewed the incident and all agreed that it was a sending-off offence. . -- The NFL cancelled its Hall of Fame game between St. .ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week. . There is no argument that the line of Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Thomas Vanek was one of the hottest in the NHL leading into the post-season, and they did combine for three goals and seven points, but it was the depth of all four lines that helped propel Montreal. . They probably ruined Tim Duncans hopes of a career change, though. Duncan wants to be a point guard, coach Gregg Popovich revealed Saturday, a wish that wont be granted.PHILADELPHIA - Sergio Garcia defeated Henrik Stenson in Thailand over the weekend and that helped the Spaniard move back into the top 10 in this weeks world golf rankings. Garcia improved nine places to No. 10 thanks to his fourth Asian Tour title. The top nine in the rankings remained unchanged with No. 1 Tiger Woods followed by Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar, Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson. Garcia was followed by Jason Day, who remained No. 11, and Ian Poulter, who improved a pair to 12th. Brandt Snedeker tumbled three notches to 13th, while Graeme McDowell dipped a pair to 14th. Jason& Dufner, Dustin Johnson, Luke Donald, Charl Schwartzel and Jim Furyk all dropped one spot and are now ranked 15th through 19th respectively.dddddddddddd Keegan Bradley rounded out the top 20 again this week. With this being the final rankings of 2013, 14 players, who were not already eligible, gained a spot in the 2014 Masters for being ranked in the top 50 of the final world rankings of the year. Those 14 are -- Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Miguel A. Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, David Lynn, Thongchai Jaidee, Peter Hanson, Joost Luiten and Branden Grace. ' ' 'e power play, and Kamloops was 1 for 5. ' ' '
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