Orioles 5, Yankees 1
The New York Yankees have run into a rough stretch, to say the least. Despite struggling in recent weeks playing primarily against the New York Mets and Tampa Bay Rays, they headed to Baltimore where they had two historic win streaks in tact.
Those streaks are now a distant memory as the team won the first game and then dropped three straight to lose the series. The culmination was a 5-1 loss on Sunday, and the team is 5-13 in its last 18 games.
Offensive Woes
The Yankees once again struggled to put runs on the board. Aside from an Erik Kratz ground out in the second inning, the team was unable to score on Sunday. The Yankees loaded the bases that inning, but failed to even record a hit with men on base.
In fact, after the second inning, they did not record a hit against Orioles starter Dean Kremer the rest of the game. Kremer, making his MLB debut Sunday, retired 11 Yankees in a row, including 13 of 14 after Kratz’s ground out.
Outfielder Brett Gardner knows that the offense needs to step up.
“We just have to find a way to be better,” Gardner said. “We all, collectively, as a unit [have to] find a way to get better if we want to get to where we want to be at.”
The lone bright spot offensively was Miguel Andujar who had three of the team’s four hits. Andujar has struggled all season long because he has been unable to get consistent at bats while being blocked at several positions across the field. With Gio Urshela injured, he is getting that consistency and making the most of it.
He has five hits and two walks in three games since being recalled. This includes the game-winning hit in Game 1 of Friday’s doubleheader. Sunday saw Andujar hit a triple and total five bases. This is a positive sign for a Yankees offense that has now scored three runs or less in four of their last seven games.
Pitching Performances
Masahiro Tanaka was not at his best in the first inning, but he performed better than his stat line indicates. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs, two earned. The first four batters of the game reached base, but Tanaka bore down. After that, he retired 15 of the next 17 batters through the fifth inning.
Gardner took notice of Tanaka’s rebound effort
“I thought that Masahiro, the first few batters of the game obviously falling behind early, but I thought that he really, really, really pitched well after that,” Gardner said. “[He] got out of a little bit of trouble there in the first inning and completely limited the damage and allowed us to come back. We were just never able to do it so days like today are frustrating.”
Although the Yankees were shut down by Kremer, the Orioles got a good performance out of their bullpen, as well. The Orioles relievers were able to make pitches when necessary.
The Yankees had baserunners in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, including runners in scoring position twice. Despite that, the Orioles bullpen was able to keep them off the board. They capitalized on a larger problem for the Yankees, who are hitting .186 with runners in scoring position in their last 18 games.
Outlook
The Yankees loss to the Orioles drops the team to third place in the AL East. For the first time all season, it is accurate to say their playoff chances are in jeopardy. On the bright side, they can control their own destiny with ten games remaining versus the second-place Toronto Blue Jays.
Although the team is dealing with injuries, the DNA of past successful teams is still found on the roster.
“The bottom line is we’ve got one or two new guys in our clubhouse,” Gardner said. “For the most part we’ve got guys who were a big part of this team last year and [have] been a part of the organization for a while, and we’re not accustomed to losing. We go out there every day and we expect to win. Recently we haven’t done a good job of that.”
The Yankees know they can do better, and they know they need to do better as they head into the final 20 games of the abbreviated season.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
