It may have taken a whole lot longer this time, as the game was pushed back 3 hours, and 17 minutes due to rain, but the Orioles stunned the Yankees once again 7-5 on a rainy Sunday afternoon (3/31) in the Bronx.
On paper, you would expect the Yankees to win this one, as JA Happ was pitching for the Bombers, while Dylan Bundy pieced for the Orioles. The gap between these two pitchers coming into this contest was large. Happ is a proven veteran, who has never lost at Yankee stadium as a yankeee, while Bundy was trying to rebound after an atrocious year in 2018.
Well once the game finally got underway, the Orioles clobbered Happ, as Renanto Nunez, finally come to life in this series with a 3 run bomb off Happ four batters into the game, to give the O's an early 3-0 lead.
Baltimore didn't stop there, as in the third, Yankee killer Trey Mancini went deep to give the O's a 4-0 lead, and frustrate the restless crowd at Yankee Stadium even more. However, fortunately for the fans, this Yankees group doesn't give up and wasted no time showing it.
After making Bundy work in the first three innings, the Yankees finally got to him, as they loaded the bases for the second straight inning, and actually cashed in this time, when Gardner worked an 11 pitch RBI walk, before Judge roped a 2 run single to right, to cut the Yankees deficit to 4-3 after 4 innings of play.
With both starters gone, the game officially became a battle of the bullpens, as Luis Cessa came into pitch for the Yankees, and allowed a key RBI single in the 6th, to Dwight Smith to give Baltimore a 5-3 lead, with 12 Yankee outs left to play.
Throughout the game, the Yankees constantly put runners on base against the O's pen but weren't able to cash them in, which came back to haunt them in the end. But despite having trouble scoring, they were still in the game in the 7th, when Gary Sanchez cruised a solo HR to left field, which brought confidence back to the Yankees and their fan base, as they only trailed 5-4 now, with 6 outs left to play.
But even though the players believed they could still win this game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn't seem to think so, as he put Steven Tarpley in the game to start the 8th, instead of stud reliever Zack Britton. To be fair, Tarpley was very reliable in emergency relief last year for the Yankees, but he is nowhere near Britton in terms of who is better, which is why everyone was shocked by the move.
Which is why as you would expect, the move backfired, as Anthony Rickard snuck a 2 run HR over the right field fence to give the O's a 7-4 lead, and dash the Yankees hopes of winning this game.
But even though, their manger seemingly didn't believe in them, the players believed in themselves, as they loaded the bases with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th inning, by being patient at the plate, and making the Orioles pitchers work to throw strikes.
But despite all that, Luke Voit grounded out to kill the rally, and up the Yankees total to 26 men left on base after 8 innings of play.
in the 9th, Tommy Kahlne kept the Bombers in it by working out of a huge base loaded 0 outs jam, to keep the game at 7-4, heading into the Yankee's last licks.
But even though they tried their best to come back, it wasn't enough despite the fact, Greg Bird worked a 2 out walk, Gleybr Torres followed up with a single, and DJ LeMaihue doubled Bird home. The reason why that wasn't enough, the Yankees were still down 7-5, and when pinch hitter Troy Tulowitzki struck out against Paul Fry, the Yankees had finished the day leaving 28 men on base in a 7-5 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles.
Stats to know:
DJ LeMahuie continued to impress for the Yankees, as one day after putting on an under the radar defensive show, DJ was great at the plate, as he went 4 for 4 with two walks, a run scored, and an RBI.
The Yankees left 28 men on base
JA Happ is no longer perfect at Yankee Stadium since joining the team
The Yankees were outscored 14-10 in this series
This is the second straight year, the Yankees lost their first series of the year to the O's.
Aaron Judge was 1 for 5 with 4 strikeouts and 2RBIS today.
Postgame:
Boone basically said that he put in Tarpley because he wanted to save Britton for tomorrow night, as the Yankees will go with the bullpen the whole way.
Thoughts:
Not blaming Boone here, we didn't step up enough today, and it showed in the box score. But I believe in these guys, it's still a long season, and we just have to turn our focus to the Tigers tomorrow. There will be other chances to avenge the Orioles this year!
Leftovers:
Miguel Andujar finally had a good day in the field at 3B.
Up next:
The Yankees will welcome the Detroit Tigers (2-2), to the Bronx on Monday night for the beginning of a 3 game series. Domingo German will play the "Opener " role for the Yankees, while the Tigers will send right-hander Tylor Ross to the mound.
Game time: 6:35 PM
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