This game was quite peculiar. After a tough month, the New York Yankees finally won their first series since early June by defeating Baltimore last night. Despite this, the Yankees could have entered the All-Star break in first place if they had won the finale. The game started at 11:35 am, streamed on the Roku channel, and ended in a 6-5 loss due to errors by Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo after Clay Holmes encountered difficulties.
The Yankees should have won this game. There were standout performances worth applauding (kudos to Trent Grisham and Ben Rice) as well as some that drew criticism (looking at you, Verdugo and Volpe).
The first inning hinted at potential tensions similar to Friday night’s brawl, with Aaron Judge getting hit by a pitch from Dean Kremer. Fortunately, it struck his elbow guard, avoiding serious injury. The Orioles had avoided pitching to Judge all series; entering today, he was 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double, and five walks. However, the Yankees couldn’t capitalize on this.
Carlos Rodón started strong, a welcome change from his recent first-inning struggles. He struck out Gunnar Henderson with a slider and Ryan Mountcastle with a curveball, suggesting a positive shift in his pitch mix as his fastball had been getting hit hard.
In the top of the second, Volpe sparked a two-out rally with a double off a middle-middle fastball. Grisham followed with a single to score Volpe. Grisham has been a bright spot, improving from a .105/.257/.263 slash line on June 13th to .250/.307/.735 since then, coupled with timely home runs and solid defense in center field.
Rodón faced trouble in the bottom of the second, walking Jordan Westburg and giving up a single to Jorge Mateo. Volpe bailed him out with a spectacular catch, preventing a hit from Colton Cowser.
The Yankees went down in order in the third, and then Henderson hit a two-run home run off a hanging Rodón slider. Rodón had narrowly missed a strike that could have ended James McCann’s at-bat earlier. Despite the frustration of walking the No. 9 hitter, Rodón rebounded by striking out Anthony Santander and Westburg to end the inning. His slider was effective, though Baltimore did elevate his pitch count.
Rodón finished the fourth inning by striking out Henderson after manager Aaron Boone showed confidence in him by letting him face the AL MVP candidate again. While Rodón needs to pitch deeper into games, his four innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts marked an improvement from his previous five starts.
Grisham continued his strong performance by hitting a solo home run in the top of the fifth. With Giancarlo Stanton on the IL, Grisham has capitalized on his playing time, delivering timely hits and showcasing power. On Wednesday, he drove in the only two runs against Tampa Bay and made a game-saving catch in center field. Today, he drove in the Yankees’ first two runs against Baltimore.
Any team would be pleased with Grisham’s output from their fourth outfielder. In the fifth inning, the Yankees had a chance with Oswaldo Cabrera singling and Judge walking against Kremer. However, Verdugo, who ideally shouldn’t be batting cleanup, grounded out to second, ending the threat. The Yankees’ lack of a reliable cleanup hitter is problematic, and someone needs to step up to ease the burden on Judge and Soto.