It was an incredibly strange game. After a brutal month of Yankee baseball, New York won its first series since early June by beating Baltimore last night. Still, the Yankees could have gone into the All-Star break in first place had they won the finale. The game started at 11:35 a.m., aired on the Roku Channel, and was lost 6-5, on back-to-back errors by Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo after Clay Holmes got into foul trouble.
Make no mistake, this is a game the Yankees absolutely should have won. Yet there were individual performances that deserve a lot of credit (hello, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice) just as there were individual performances that deserve a lot of criticism (hello, Verdugo and Volpe).
The first round showed that this match could turn into a continuation of Friday night’s brawl, with Aaron Judge getting hit by Dean Kremer. Thankfully, he was hit in the elbow, but that HBP could have been more than just a nuisance.
The Orioles haven’t thrown to Judge at all in this series. Before today, he was 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and five walks in this series. The Yankees, however, haven’t been able to take advantage.
Carlos Rodón looked healthy in his first inning of work, a welcome change from his recent habit of throwing a crooked number in the first inning. He struck out Gunnar Henderson on a slider and Ryan Mountcastle on a curveball. Hopefully that signals a change in Rodón’s pitching mix, as his fastball has been battered.
In the top of the second inning, Volpe started a two-out rally by sending a fastball up the middle for a double. Grisham singled up the middle to score Volpe. Grisham has been as refreshing as a cool breeze on a hot summer day — on June 13, he was batting .105/.257/.263. Since then, he has hit .250/.307/.735, giving him an OPS of .735. Coupled with a few timely home runs and stellar defense in center field, his performance has been ideal for any team’s fourth outfielder.
Rodón found himself in a tough spot in the bottom half of the inning, walking Jordan Westburg and singled to Jorge Mateo, who ended up on second base. Volpe saved Rodón with a spectacular catch, ripping a hit off Colton Cowser.
After the Yankees got back in order in the top of the third, Henderson hit a slider off Rodón that produced a two-run home run. In the previous at-bat, Rodón narrowly missed a backdoor slider that probably should have been ruled a strike that would have sent James McCann to the dugout. Still, it’s frustrating to walk the No. 9 hitter, especially after an 0-2 count.
Rodón bounced back by striking out Anthony Santander and Westburg to end the inning. His slider looked effective today, even though Baltimore was able to increase its pitch count.
Rodón was able to finish the fourth inning by striking out Henderson after Aaron Boone showed his confidence in his starter by letting him face the American League MVP candidate for the second time. Ultimately, Rodón needs to play longer in his starts, but after the disasters he committed in his previous five starts, four innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts should be considered a slight improvement.
Grisham continued to put on a show, sending a fastball into the right-field stands for a solo shot in the top of the fifth. Grisham has shown a knack for timed hitting and even some power now that he’s gotten regular playing time with Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list. He drove in New York’s only two runs against Tampa Bay on Wednesday while making a game-saving catch in center field later. He drove in New York’s first two runs today against Baltimore.
Again, any team will take its performance from that of its fourth outfielder.
The Yankees had something going for them in the fifth inning when Oswaldo Cabrera singled and Judge walked Kremer. That opportunity was dashed, however, when Verdugo (who should no longer be the cleanup hitter) grounded out to second base to end the inning. While the lack of a true leadoff hitter drew a lot of attention after Volpe was removed from that role, the Yankees have a similar problem at cleanup hitter. Someone needs to step up in that role to start producing runs and take the load off Judge and Soto.
Tommy Kahnle replaced Rodón. Although he got two quick outs, he gave up a solo shot to Santander to make it 3-2, Baltimore, after five innings.
Baltimore held that lead into the ninth inning. Michael Tonkin and Luke Weaver were able to hold off the O’s high-powered offense, although Luke Weaver gave up a triple to Santander. Jake Cousins was able to elicit a ground ball to Cabrera at third base, who nailed Cedric Mullins at home in a show of head-high defense. Cousins, Weaver and Tonkin have all been very sharp lately, and the bullpen’s performance stabilized last week. It held the fort and allowed the Yankees’ offense to get back into games as the team tries to climb out of the hole it has dug for itself.
Craig Kimbrel came on for Baltimore in the ninth inning to try to get the save. Instead, he walked Grisham. Cabrera walked after a rough at-bat, which allowed Rice to hit a three-run home run.
The rookie has only spent a short time in the big leagues, but he’s already left his mark on this team with some massive home runs and great at-bats. Rice was in a bit of a slump heading into this game, having only two hits in his last five games. Hopefully this Kimbrel potato is the straw that breaks the dam for the Yankees rookie.
With a 5-3 lead, Holmes came in to secure the Yankees’ save. He singled to pinch hitter Kyle Stowers. Cowser beat a double play to first base before Ryan O’Hearn, batting for McCann, walked.
Holmes showed some nastiness by retiring Henderson, but the drama continued to unfold as Adley Rutschman drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Holmes induced Mountcastle to roll in a game-ending hit to Volpe…
…who fumbled the ball and allowed Cowser to score. That would have been bad enough, but another defensive disaster sent the Yankees to the All-Star break with a crushing loss.
With the O’s still alive, Mullins threw a pass from Holmes into left field. With a 99% chance of catching the ball according to Statcast, Verdugo made a horrible read on the ball, coming up to try to catch the ball before backtracking after realizing his mistake. The result was a missed routine fly that resulted in a walk-off for Baltimore, preventing what should have been a sweep.
It was an incredibly frustrating way to start the second half. A sweep would have put the Yankees in sole possession of first place in the American League East. In the span of two minutes, two fielding errors tipped defeat into the jaws of victory.
It’s hard to feel good after a loss like that. But if it helps stave off total despair, winning two of three against Baltimore is probably all Yankees fans could have hoped for heading into this road series, given the state of the team. The Yankees play again Friday night, July 19, against Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium.
The score of the box