After taking the first two games of a four-game series, the Yankees fell to the Orioles 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Here are the takeaways…
1. Randy Vasquez took the ball for the Yankees. In two previous starts in the majors in 2023, the right-hander entered with a 1-1 record and a 1.74 ERA. On Wednesday, Vasquez started the night by retiring Cedric Mullins in a deep at-bat to strand two Orioles in the first. Through the fifth inning, Vasquez tallied just one strikeout with three walks but pitched to contact and kept Baltimore off the scoreboard. In his third start of the season, the right-hander once again allowed two runs or less in every start and worked through five innings for the second time.
2. Dean Kremer took the mound for the Orioles. The right-hander also faced New York on April 7, allowing four runs in five innings and earned a no decision. This time around, the 27-year-old posted two separate one-two-three innings early on and matched early zeroes from Vasquez. Through four frames, Kremer allowed just one hit while striking out six hitters. The right-hander also added another one-two-three frame in the sixth inning after returning to the mound with a lead.
3. After four innings of a pitcher’s duel, Josh Donaldson lifted a solo home run to right field off an elevated breaking ball to put the Yankees in front with the game’s first run. After the opposite field shot, nine out of Donaldson’s 13 hits on the season have been home runs.
New York added an insurance run later in the frame when Kyle Higashioka poked a base hit to right field to score Anthony Volpe for a two-run cushion.
A delay occurred in the fifth inning as the medical staff tended to an injured cameraman who was struck with a ball that left the field of play on a double-play attempt. After about 17 minutes, the cameraman would be carted off the field and gestured to the crowd as he did.
4. After five shutout innings from Vasquez, Nick Ramirez entered as the first arm out of the Yankees’ bullpen. Colton Cowser cut the lead in half with an RBI single in his major league debut for Baltimore’s first run. Later in the frame, the Orioles took the lead on a two-run triple from Jordan Westburg past a diving Jake Bauers in left field before he scored on a contact play one batter later.
5. Against Yennier Cano in the eighth, Volpe drilled an opposite-field home run to continue his hot stretch and cut the lead to one. After a long flyout from Anthony Rizzo, Felix Bautista forced Giancarlo Stanton to line out and preserve the lead.
Baltimore once again added insurance in the ninth when Ryan O’Hearn snuck a two-run home run into the first row of the right-field stands to further push the Orioles ahead 6-3.
Bautista retired the side in a scoreless ninth as Baltimore took its first game of the series.
Highlights
What’s Next
The Yankees wrap up their four-game series against the Orioles on Thursday from the Bronx. First pitch is set for 7:05 pm