It wasn’t exactly a meaningful game, but the Yankees projected a much better image in the nightcap against the Baltimore Orioles and won it 6-3 after losing the first game in ugly fashion. New York’s pitchers certainly brought the strikeout stuff for this one, as Ryan Yarbrough, Will Warren, Brent Headrick, John Schreiber, and Alexander Cornielle combined to punch out 17 — tied for a team sign high among standard nine-inning efforts with a gem led by Cam Schlittler’s 13 on June 19th against the Reds.
The Yankees’ record is now 93-68 with one regular season game left. If the weather holds off (no guarantees there), they have a shot at matching last year’s 94-68 record, which is frankly not bad because their best player, Aaron Judge, only suited up for 66 games.
This game actually started as a pitchers’ duel, with Orioles’ starter Brandon Young and Yarbrough trading zeroes for the first 2.1 innings. The lefty departed after 49 pitches, but did not allow a run despite surrendering four hits and a walk, fanning five.
The Yankees brought in Warren with one out and a runner on first, which represented a nice training scenario ahead of his expected bullpen role in the Wild Card Series.
As it turned out, Warren was amazing, even though he allowed a double in that same inning that could have produced a run for Baltimore, and covered 3.2 scoreless frames while conceding a mere three hits and racking up seven strikeouts. He will finish the regular season with a nice 3.92 ERA and just over a strikeout per inning.
The Yankees finally got to Young in the bottom of the fifth. After two outs, Austin Wells walked and crossed home thanks to Ryan McMahon’s RBI double.
Young pitched a very solid game, completing five frames in which he conceded a single run on two hits and three walks. He whiffed six and finished the game and the season with a 3.56 ERA.
The Bombers extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth against the O’s bullpen. Spencer Jones singled in Heliot Ramos, aided by a fielding error by right fielder Rece Hinds. Later in the inning, Anthony Volpe, playing shortstop, hit a ground-rule double that plated Luis García Jr. and Jones to make it a 4-0 ballgame.
Headrick replaced Warren in the seventh and surrendered the Orioles’ first run. With the bases loaded and one out, Leody Taveras hit a sac fly to bring in Pete Alonso. Ramos and García would hit consecutive RBI singles in the bottom of the inning, though, and the Yankees were now up 6-1.
Dylan Beavers greeted Cornielle with a solo home run in the ninth to make things 6-2. The rookie got into some trouble after the long ball, putting two men on base before getting the first out. He then surrendered a very long RBI double to Taveras that just missed the stands, as the Orioles trimmed the Yankees lead to three runs.
Cornielle then shook it off and struck out the next two hitters to end the ballgame. Ben Rice went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored, and McMahon went 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI. Volpe plated two, and Wells walked twice and scored once.
The Yankees are supposed to wrap up their season on Sunday against the Orioles, starting at 3:20pm ET. Elmer Rodríguez has been announced as New York’s starter. However, the nor’easter that forced this doubleheader in the first place has led to some bad forecasts for Sunday, so it’s very possible that Game 162 gets nixed. We’ll find out soon enough! Stay dry out there.
Box Score
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