The Baltimore Orioles endured a late night trip from Tampa Bay to New York that may have dragged into the wee hours of Friday.
By the time Friday night arrived, the Orioles were ready to continue their recent surge.
The Orioles will attempt to earn another victory Saturday afternoon in New York when they face the Yankees, who are 1-7 in their past eight games.
Baltimore is 14-6 in its past 20 games after earning a 5-3 victory in the series opener. Ramon Urias hit a tiebreaking homer to open the eighth, and Gunnar Henderson add a pinch-hit RBI single in the inning.
Gary Sanchez hit a two-run single in the first inning, Coby Mayo delivered a tying single in the sixth and Baltimore’s bullpen combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings.
“We had a lot of energy today,” Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “In a strange way, coming from the vibe in Tampa — which was dead, to say the least — and then you walk into Yankee Stadium (Friday) after nobody got more than probably four, five, six hours of sleep, everybody’s out there in (batting practice) and they’re flying all over the field, so you had a good feeling.”
The Orioles began the series without Adley Rutschman, who tweaked his left side in batting practice. The catcher is slated for tests on Saturday, and he might miss a second straight game.
The Yankees produced 10 hits and drew five walks on Friday, but they went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10.
Aaron Judge hit his sixth homer in his past 12 games and had his first three-hit game since June 8. Judge reached base four times but also struck out in the ninth against Felix Bautista.
The Yankees have just eight wins in their past 20 games following a 16-4 stretch. New York was held to three runs or fewer for the eighth time in the past nine games on Friday.
“It’s moving in the right direction,” Judge said. “All good teams go through little slumps or situations where it’s not going your way. You’ve just got to keep trekking, keep moving forward.”
Clarke Schmidt, coming off his longest outing of the season, will start for New York on Saturday. Schmidt (3-3, 3.16 ERA) allowed four hits in 7 2/3 scoreless innings during a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.
The 29-year-old right-hander threw 97 pitches, notched 18 outs in the air and pitched into the eighth inning for the second time in his career.
Schmidt is 3-4 with a 4.03 ERA in 11 career appearances (six starts) against the Orioles. He last faced Baltimore on Sept. 24 in New York, when he allowed three runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Baltimore’s Zach Eflin (6-3, 4.81 ERA) will attempt to rebound from one of the worst starts of his career. The 31-year-old right-hander permitted seven runs on a career-high 12 hits in five innings during 7-1 loss at Tampa Bay on Monday.
Before getting rocked against the Rays, Eflin was 3-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his previous three starts.
Eflin is 3-3 with a 2.44 ERA in nine career starts against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
