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NEW YORK – Jackson Holliday singled on the first pitch thrown this morning. The Orioles had their fill yesterday of no-hit tomfoolery. Get that drama out of the way quickly and go about trying to win a series.
They made it to the eighth inning before losing their lead, and the series.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. lined a two-run double into right-center field off Bryan Baker to move the Yankees past the Orioles 4-2 before an announced crowd of 45,571.
Ben Rice led off the inning with a single and Giancarlo Stanton lined a one-out single into left field at 110.7 mph. Chisholm brought home Rice and pinch-runner Paul Goldschmidt, who slid across the plate as catcher Gary Sánchez tried to make a lunging tag.
Chisholm went to third base, and he scored an insurance run when Sánchez failed to hold onto Gunnar Henderson’s throw on DJ LeMahieu’s grounder. Plate umpire Jansen Visconti called Chisholm out before seeing the ball roll away.
"I had no idea he even called him out," Henderson said. "So, yeah, I had to ask the infield umpire what was going on, so I had really no idea.”
Baker posted a 2.41 ERA and 0.891 WHIP before today.
"Couple good at-bats," he said. "First two guys, it felt like I threw 100 pitches to them. Kind of wore me down and put some good swings on the ball and didn’t go to a defender."
Dean Kremer allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings, and the bullpen kept bending before it snapped, leaving the Orioles 3-4 on the road trip and 33-44 overall.
“Bake’s kind of really settled into that spot for us, too," said interim manager Tony Mansolino, explaining why he didn't use left-hander Gregory Soto. "And if you look at it, you’ve got Goldschmidt sitting down on the bench, so what they’re probably going to do is go Goldschmidt against Soto, and Goldy’s I think got a 1.200 OPS against lefties this year, and then (Cody) Bellinger’s a little bit of a reverse. I mean, Bellinger’s killed lefties all year, so a little bit of a reverse right there.
"We’ve been using Bake, he’s kind of been our guy. He’s on two days, he’s full rest. We were going with our guy right there.”
The day couldn’t pass without another injury. Catcher Maverick Handley came out of the game in the bottom of the second inning after a collision with Chisholm.
DJ LeMahieu singled into left field with two outs, Handley moved up the line to field Colton Cowser’s throw, and Chisholm ran into his arm and sent him sprawling to the ground. The run scored after the ball popped out of Handley’s mitt, head athletic trainer Scott Barringer checked on him, and Sánchez put on the gear for the third time in the series.
“He got hit pretty hard," Mansolino said. "We haven’t seen a collision like that at the plate, probably, since all the new rules came in. So we’re evaluating him right now, full body, every part of it. We’ll have more information tomorrow.
“We’re evaluating everything right now, so nothing official on concussion protocol. There’s obviously a chance that that happens. We’ll have more information tomorrow on him.”
“Yeah, that was crazy," Henderson said. "I haven't seen him so I have no idea what, I guess, exactly happened but yeah, I hope he’s OK and that’s a scary, scary situation there.”
The Orioles recalled Handley yesterday from the emergency taxi squad and placed Adley Rutschman on the injured list. Rutschman is expected to be out until after the All-Star break with a strained left oblique.
David Bañuelos held his usual spot on the taxi squad and could become an option for the Orioles, who are simply trying to carry a full roster. Chadwick Tromp isn’t in Triple-A Norfolk’s lineup and could meet the team in Baltimore.
"Again, you haven’t seen stuff like that in a long time," Mansolino said. "After the Buster Posey rules of taking out catchers at the plate, you don’t see that. The difference there, too, is Mav’s running full speed at a guy that’s flying down the line, so it’s very scary.”
Infielder Jordan Westburg wasn’t available after spraining his left index finger yesterday, and Sánchez having to replace Handley took another piece out of the bench.
The first four batters and five of six reached against Yankees starter Will Warren in the first inning. He picked off Holliday at second base, but the Orioles scored twice on a run-scoring single by Ryan O’Hearn and RBI double by Colton Cowser. Ramón Urías was hit by a pitch after Holliday’s single and Henderson walked.
The Orioles tied the franchise record with a walk in 155 consecutive games.
More important was how they wouldn’t be shut out again today. O’Hearn jumped on a first-pitch curveball and lined it into right field. Cowser delivered with two outs, taking a four-seam fastball the other way for a 2-0 lead. But the offense sputtered for the rest of the day.
"We had great energy this morning and kind of start the game, and they came out of the gates pretty good," Mansolino said. "They took advantage of some mistakes and got the ball moving around the field. You’ve got to credit their guy. He did a good job of settling down. But at the end of the day you have a 2-1 lead going into the eighth inning with Bake, you feel pretty good about it.”
“I felt like we had some opportunities to get there,” Henderson said. “Just didn't come through. But ultimately, I was happy with the way we played on the road trip and, yeah, I feel like that's what we can take away from it.”
O’Hearn singled again with two outs in the third inning, also on the first pitch of the at-bat.
According to STATS, O’Hearn was hitting .533 and slugging 1.100 with four home runs when he put the first pitch he saw in play.
Kremer escaped a jam in the third by striking out Cody Bellinger to strand two runners, and he retired seven in a row before walking Aaron Judge to begin the sixth. Judge went to third base on Rice’s double and they held as Dylan Carlson made a sliding catch in right field to deny Bellinger and Stanton struck out on three pitches.
“I felt pretty good about it," Kremer said. "Command was good. Shapes were good. And then ultimately the plan we kind of went in with worked.”
Keegan Akin replaced Kremer, and Chisholm flied to right field. Kremer threw 85 pitches and allowed five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Seranthony Domínguez put two runners on base in the seventh and struck out Judge on a full-count splitter to preserve the lead, but Baker wasn’t as fortunate. Félix Bautista warmed for a save opportunity that never arrived.
Fernando Cruz struck out three batters in the top of the eighth after left-hander Tim Hill issued a pair of walks. The Orioles couldn’t make it easier on the ‘pen, and it cost them.
"You’ve got to give credit to their pitcher," Mansolino said. "That split, he’s done that to a lot of people right there. You get a couple guys on base right there, you’re hoping to kind of expand the lead. Obviously, just with how used the bullpen has been here over the last really two-to-three weeks. At some point there was gonna be a break, and unfortunately it was today.”
Holliday singled off Devin Williams with two outs in the ninth and Urías grounded out.
"Summer weather’s coming and we got in at about 4 or 5 a.m. on Friday morning and it’s an 11:30 game," Baker said. "I think all those things play into it, for sure. But we’ve just got to execute better and make a few plays and things will turn out better, for sure."
* Double-A Chesapeake reinstated pitcher Braxton Bragg from the injured list. Bragg is the No. 15 prospect in the system, per MLB Pipeline, and he started today for the Baysox.
