New York Yankees 3-4 Baltimore Orioles
Some nights just don’t go your way, and that was the case for the Yankees in Monday’s 4-3 loss to the Orioles.
Yankees fall short against Orioles despite late rally
Things got off to a rough start at Yankee Stadium, as Tomoyuki Sugano silenced the Bronx Bombers in a way no other team has managed this season. Although the Yankees staged a late rally, the early hole proved too deep to climb out of.
Signed to a one-year deal by Baltimore this winter, Sugano has had a few solid outings, but he usually pitches to contact rather than missing bats. That wasn’t the case this time. Facing the American League’s top offense, the 34-year-old right-hander delivered the best performance of his MLB career, striking out eight across five scoreless innings while allowing just five hits and one walk.
Sugano’s command was razor-sharp, carving up righties with sweepers and baffling lefties with a devastating splitter that generated nine whiffs on 12 swings. His 17 total whiffs easily set a new personal best. Perhaps fueled by adrenaline, Sugano even found an extra gear on his fastball, sitting one mph higher than usual.
On the other side, Will Warren struggled from the outset. After escaping a first-inning jam, the rookie right-hander was tagged for a Ramon Laureano RBI double in the second. In the third, back-to-back walks set up Ryan O’Hearn, who blasted a three-run homer to right field, putting Baltimore up 4-0.
O’Hearn, one of the few bright spots for the Orioles, is now hitting with a .942 OPS, second best on the team.
After Warren was pulled in the fourth, Ryan Yarbrough stepped up in a big way, tossing 3.2 shutout innings to stabilize things and give the Yankees a shot.
The offense eventually showed signs of life. In the seventh, Aaron Judge drove in a run with a groundout, but with two runners on, the Yankees couldn’t cash in more. An inning later, Gregory Soto struggled with his command, and Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells came through with back-to-back RBI doubles to cut the deficit to 4-3.
However, Soto managed to escape further damage, handing the ball to Felix Bautista. The Orioles closer overpowered the heart of the Yankees’ order, striking out Judge and Cody Bellinger to end the threat and secure the save.
One key moment the Yankees will likely revisit came in the fifth, when Paul Goldschmidt nearly launched a two-run homer, only for Cedric Mullins to make a leaping grab at the wall.
There was at least one encouraging note: Devin Williams delivered a clean eighth inning in his first appearance since being removed from the closer role following back-to-back blown saves.
Roster
| Players | H-AB | R | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T. GrishamCF | 2-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .306 |
| A. JudgeRF | 2-5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .405 |
| C. BellingerLF | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .194 |
| P. Goldschmidt1B | 1-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .361 |
| J. Chisholm Jr.2B | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .173 |
| A. VolpeSS | 1-4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .229 |
| A. WellsC | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .214 |
| J. DominguezDH | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .239 |
| O. Peraza3B | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .192 |
| O. CabreraPH-3B | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .284 |
| IP | H | ER | BB | K | PC-ST | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W. Warren | 3.1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 72-47 | 5.63 |
| R. Yarbrough | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 53-35 | 4.11 |
| D. Williams | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14-9 | 10.00 |
Up next
The Yankees will try to even the series tomorrow night, with Carlos Rodon set to face Kyle Gibson, who will be making his season debut for Baltimore. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET.
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