The second half is under way for the Orioles. Their first second half series was against the vaunted New York Yankees, and up until game three, this was a series that showed the Orioles are no longer pushovers.
Aaron Judge was the catalyst for the series, going a combined 8-for-13 (.615 BA) with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs. Judge now has nine homers in his last 12 games against the Orioles and 36 for his career (the most against any opponent).
Game one saw the Yankees jump out to a 3-0 lead on a Judge home run, before the Orioles would rebound and score two in the bottom frame.
Another homer by Judge and one by Joey Gallo would push the lead to 7-3, before Yankee killer, Anthony Santander, would belt a three-run shot to make it 7-6. Santander has hit six of his 16 home runs against the Yankees this year.
Unfortunately, that would close the scoring, and the Yankees would take game one. The Orioles fought but came up a bit short, but they showed the Yankees they weren’t scared to play with the big boys.
Game two, once again, saw the Yankees jump out to a 3-0 lead that included two Judge RBIs hits before the Orioles countered.
Cedric Mullins, who had two RBIs, Adley Rutschman and Jorge Mateo would all chip in to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead. Ramón Urías, who had his sixth multi-hit game since coming back from the injured list, would belt a two-run homer to ice the game, before Jorge López picked up his 18th save.
Game three was over by the third inning. After the Orioles squandered a first and third with one out opportunity in the second, the Yankees used a DJ LeMahieu single and Judge two-run homer to pull ahead 3-0 and never looked back in route to a 6-0 victory.
The Baltimore Battery ❌-FACTOR going into the series was the O’s starting pitching. If the starting pitching could keep the game within reach, the bullpen would be able to maximize its role, and the offense could work their magic.
Unfortunately for the Orioles, the starters let holes be dug that became too much of an obstacle in games one and three.
Tyler Wells (5.0 innings 5 ER), Jordan Lyles (5.0 innings 3 ER) and Dean Kremer (5.1 innings 4 ER) fell a bit short, though they didn’t pitch horribly. The starters would hold a 7.06 ERA for the series, which spells danger for most teams.
Though the offense fell short in the first game, they picked them up in game two, before being unable to climb the mountain in game three. With Aaron Judge jumping all over Orioles pitching, it doesn’t make it any easier for the offense to counter either.
The Orioles fall to 5-11 on the season against the Yankees, but outside of a couple games, the Yankees have had to fight to earn their victories.
The O’s will have no time to lick their wounds, as Tampa Bay comes to town for a four-game series beginning Monday night. The Birds are a game under .500 and have a chance to make up ground in both the division and Wild Card standings.
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