Yankees hit 3 straight homers to start game against Orioles -- a month after doing it vs. Brewers

BALTIMORE (AP) — If your starting pitcher isn't sharp, the New York Yankees can make him look very bad, very quickly.

And the Baltimore Orioles have a lot of starters who haven't been sharp lately.

The Yankees greeted Kyle Gibson in his return to the major leagues by homering on three of his first five pitches Tuesday night. When Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice went deep, it marked the second time this year that New York began a game with three consecutive home runs. The Yankees are the first team to do that more than once in a season — and April hasn't even ended yet.

“Grish got it going for us and set the tone for us early on,” Judge said. “When he goes up there and ... sends one to Eutaw Street, it's pretty impressive and gets you going.”

Cody Bellinger — the game's fifth batter — also hit a solo homer, and Gibson allowed another one to Rice in the second. The Yankees ultimately went deep six times and thrashed the Orioles 15-3.

New York started the bottom of the first of its March 29 game against Milwaukee with three homers in a row. In that game, Paul Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Judge needed only three pitches to hit three homers.

“It just shows that we’ve got a lot of depth in the lineup,” Rice said. “I know Judgie was part of the first one, right? But it was three different guys this time? Or two different guys?”

It was an ugly return to the majors for the 37-year-old Gibson, who made 30 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals last season before Baltimore signed him to a $5.25 million, one-year contract in late March. He'd been working in the minors before being called up before Tuesday's game.

“He gave up four homers in the first inning. That’s kind of a telling sign,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “At that point I’m just trying to figure out how we’re going to get through the game.”

Gibson ended up allowing nine runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings. The Orioles lost ace Corbin Burnes to free agency and tried to bolster their staff by signing three starting pitchers to one-year deals, all of whom were at least 35 years old. Tomoyuki Sugano has been a positive, but Charlie Morton is off to a horrendous start and Gibson provided no help in his first opportunity.

After Rice's home run made it 3-0, Gibson retired Goldschmidt on a grounder before Bellinger homered. Anthony Volpe's RBI double made it 5-0 before the top of the first was over.

Rice homered again in the second to make it 6-0.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

New York Yankees' Ben Rice reacts after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, left, celebrates with Ben Rice (22) after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

New York Yankees' Trent Grisham rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

New York Yankees' Ben Rice reacts toward the dugout after hitting a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)