BALTIMORE — With the Yankees playing the Orioles for the first time this season, walks and whiffs hurt the Bombers in a 4-3 loss at Camden Yards on Monday night.
That the latter hindered the visitors came as a bit of a surprise, as Baltimore starter Tomoyuki Sugano entered the game with an 8.0 K%, the lowest in the majors this season. Yet the 35-year-old Japanese rookie, armed with a six-pitch mix, struck out eight Yankees across five scoreless innings and 95 pitches.
The Yankees did create some traffic against Sugano, picking up five hits and one walk. However, the right-hander repeatedly worked out of trouble, including a two-out, bases-loaded situation in the first frame.
The Yankees did get on the board in the seventh inning, as a fielder’s choice off of Aaron Judge’s bat let a run score. Judge had to beat out a potential double play throw to make that happen.
Birthday boy Anthony Volpe, now 24, and Austin Wells then added RBI doubles off Gregory Soto in the eighth. However, the late rally stopped there.
Orioles closer Félix Bautista then put the Yankees, who went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on, down in the ninth.
Will Warren, meanwhile, only lasted 3.1 innings. He allowed six hits, four earned runs, two walks and five strikeouts over 72 pitches.
Warren now has a 5.63 ERA after six starts.
The Orioles scored the first run of the game in the second inning when Ramón Laureano ripped an RBI double to deep center. Trent Grisham, a talented defender, made a rare bad read on the ball, which turned him around before falling on the warning track.
While Grisham’s mishap – the play had a 95% catch probability – didn’t help Warren, the rookie right-hander hurt himself in the third when he opened the inning with two walks. Ryan O’Hearn seized on those free passes, launching a three-run homer over Camden’s high right field wall.
That blast — which was followed by an NSFW hot mic moment in Baltimore’s dugout — was enough for the last-place Orioles to take down the first-place Yankees.
With the Yankees falling to their division rival, they’ll look to get back on track with Carlos Rodón starting on Tuesday.
Rodón is coming off back-to-back outings with zero earned runs, but he’s struggled against the Orioles in his career. The lefty has a 5.58 ERA against Baltimore and a 6.75 mark at Camden Yards.
Kyle Gibson, who didn’t sign with the Orioles as a free agent until March 22, will make his season debut for Baltimore.
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