The Baltimore Orioles want to make more out of the current three-game series after winning the opener against the visiting New York Yankees.
Maybe there will be more drama Tuesday night.
The Orioles won for just the fourth time in 12 games when Coby Mayo’s three-run homer in the seventh inning sparked a 3-2 victory on Monday. The blast completed a surprising turnaround, as Baltimore trailed 2-0 and didn’t have a hit until that inning.
New York took its fourth straight loss. The Yankees fell for the fifth time in six games since beginning May with a five-game winning streak that included a four-game wipeout of Baltimore.
Now the Orioles are feeling better.
“It feels like I’ve been in that spot a lot over the last three seasons since I’ve been up here and haven’t come through much, as much as I wanted to,” Mayo said. “That was a spot where when I did come through, all that emotion came out and it just felt really good.”
The outcome provided the Orioles with a jolt of confidence. They were stymied by Ryan Weathers, but he exited after a single, a groundout and a walk in the seventh, and reliever Brent Headrick was taken deep by Mayo, the first batter he faced.
If the Yankees fall on Tuesday, they would match their longest losing streak of the season, a five-game skid from April 8-12.
“We’ve got to get some guys unlocked,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got a handful of guys that are scuffling. We’ve got to get a little bit more competitive up and down the lineup as we hit this little rough patch.”
Will Warren (4-1, 3.46 ERA) will start for the Yankees on Tuesday. He held the Orioles to two runs, one earned, in 6 1/3 innings for a home victory on May 1, striking out nine and walking one. Pete Alonso tagged him for a solo homer. Warren’s only outing since then resulted in a loss to the Texas Rangers, when he allowed six runs in four innings on Wednesday.
The right-hander has struck out 53 and walked 11 in 41 2/3 innings this season.
Warren went 1-2 with 4.95 ERA in four matchups with Baltimore last year, giving up four home runs in those outings.
The Orioles hadn’t announced their Tuesday pitching plans, but they are expected to have left-hander Trevor Rogers (2-3, 4.75 ERA) back from the injured list and available for a start any day now. Rogers hasn’t pitched in the majors since April 25. In four career outings vs. the Yankees, he is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA.
Baltimore catcher Samuel Basallo was scratched from the lineup on Monday, when he was set to be the designated hitter, because of a sore left knee. A day earlier, he was involved in a collision at home plate but held onto the ball for an out against the Athletics.
The Orioles made a move involving the pitching staff on Monday, calling up left-hander Josh Walker from Triple-A Norfolk and optioning right-hander Trey Gibson to Norfolk.
New York slugger Aaron Judge has reached base against the Orioles in 27 consecutive games after hitting a sixth-inning double in the series opener.
The Yankees didn’t have shortstop Jose Caballero, who is batting .259 with 13 stolen bases, in the starting lineup on Monday because of a finger injury sustained a day earlier in Milwaukee. The plan was to have him evaluated by a specialist Tuesday in New York, though he was used as a ninth-inning pinch runner and caught stealing to end the Monday game.
“He’s as tough as they come, but he had a little hard time when he went to throw (on Monday),” Boone said. “He’s been such a good performer for us here to start the year, both sides of the ball. He’s been a key part of our team to this point.”
Max Schuemann was New York’s shortstop in Caballero’s absence.
–Field Level Media
