On paper, Kyle Bradish is Baltimore’s top starter with Trevor Rogers on the IL. Unfortunately, the lefty failed to pitch like it today. Bradish couldn’t play stopper for the struggling Orioles, and the Yankees ran away with a decisive 9-4 win in the second of a four-games series.
Bradish continued a disappointing string of starts by Orioles pitchers. The lefty used a double play ball to erase a leadoff walk in the first, but the Yankees broke through in the second. Cody Bellinger snuck a pop fly over the short porch in right field to give New York an early 1-0 advantage. It was the type of homer that elicited eye rolls from opposing fans and pitchers alike, but Bradish ran into more serious trouble as the game continued.
José Caballero worked a five pitch walk with one out in the third, and Trent Grisham poked a double to left field. Bradish bounced back by striking out Ben Rice, but he crossed up catcher Adley Rutschman on a high fastball. The passed ball allowed New York to double its lead, and Bellinger drove in the third run of the game on an 0-2 breaking ball.
Bellinger’s knock represented a troubling trend of Baltimore pitchers failing to put away hitters. Bradish came within one strike of a zero in the fourth inning before grooving a 3-2 fastball to Grisham. The Yankee leadoff hitter smacked the ball 412 feet to left field, and New York took a commanding 5-1 lead in the fourth.
Grisham’s blast killed some fleeting momentum for the Orioles. Pete Alonso got the O’s on the board in the top of the fourth with his second homer in as many days. The solo shot briefly trimmed the deficit to two, but Bradish failed to deliver a shutdown inning.
Keegan Akin replaced Bradish in the fifth, and Bellinger greeted him with another homer. The Yankees led 6-1 before Baltimore managed to chip away in the sixth inning.
The Orioles loaded the bases with nobody out for Alonso, but the slugger grounded into a double play. Tyler O’Neill took a walk, and a pinch-hitting Samuel Basallo delivered a double down the right field line to make it 6-3. Jeremiah Jackson stepped in with a chance to make it a one-run game with a base hit, but he bounced a harmless ground ball to short that ended the inning.
Dylan Beavers pinch hit for Weston Wilson to start the seventh. The rookie worked a walk, stole second and third, and eventually scored on a ground ball by Taylor Ward. The manufactured run inched Baltimore to within two, but any chance at a comeback faded in the bottom half of the inning,
Anthony Nunez walked Rice and Aaron Judge before allowing a run-scoring single to Bellinger. Jazz Chisholm plated two more with a base hit to right that O’Neill briefly failed to handle. Judge walked twice, but finished 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. The Yankees still managed to score nine runs. That simply can’t happen.
The Orioles needed a strong start from Bradish after Cade Povich completed only four innings in Game 1. Baltimore will send out pitching prospect Trey Gibson for his MLB debut tomorrow against Max Fried (4-1, 2.09 ERA). Maybe the rookie can help flip the script.
Craig Albernaz sent out a lineup of seven righties, one switch hitter, and Gunnar Henderson to face left-handed starter Ryan Weathers. O’Neill, Coby Mayo, Jeremiah Jackson, Weston Wilson and Blaze Alexander combined to go 0-for-13 from spots five-to-nine in the batting order. It’s unclear how much input Albernaz has on the lineup in this modern era, but the Orioles’ obsession with matchups failed to produce positive results today.
This series feels like a benchmark for the Orioles. So far, the team looks completely outclassed by the first-place Yankees. Baltimore is clearly struggling to overcome some short and long term injuries, and the panic button could be on ice by the end of the weekend.
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