Orioles’ 12-1 loss to Yankees completes painful 4-game series; Albernaz: ‘We just weren’t competitive’

NEW YORK–What happened? The Orioles couldn’t wait to escape the Bronx. Their four long days and nights at Yankee Stadium ended on Monday night with another painful defeat.

It was one of the worst series in team history. The Orioles were outscored 39-10 in the four games. For the first time in team history, they’ve lost five straight games by at least five runs.

After an emotional pregame ceremony honoring the wonderful longtime radio voice of the Yankees, John Sterling, the Orioles dropped their fourth straight game, 12-1, before 36,802.

“Really disappointing. Four-game set and not win a game, it’s really tough, frustrating,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “We’ve gotta bounce back. We’ve gotta bounce back in Miami and just play clean baseball and give ourselves a chance.”

Stretching back to last season, the Orioles (15-20) have lost nine in a row to New York (24-11).

“We just weren’t competitive,” Albernaz said. “We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to win, whether it be mistakes, miscues, whatever the case may be. That’s on us. Like we’ve talked about all year, every game, we feel like we’re in it.

“And this series it felt like we just couldn’t stop the bleeding in the big inning, or we shot ourself in the foot. That’s the biggest thing. We need to get back to just competing, and competing against – it doesn’t matter who we play, but still give ourselves a chance.”

Shane Baz (1-3), who had his best start with the Orioles in his last outing (one run, six hits in 5 2/3 innings vs. Houston), followed that with six runs, five earned, a season-high on five hits. He walked five, one intentionally, and struck out four. The five walks equal a career high.

Baz was down quickly. Trent Grisham led off with a double and Aaron Judge hit his 14^th home run after the Orioles failed to challenge what appeared to be a third strike.

In the third, Grisham doubled and sped to third when centerfielder Leody Taveras’ soft throw to cutoff man Gunnar Henderson was short, bouncing away when he tried catch it on a short hop. Grisham scored on Cody Bellinger’s sacrifice fly.

In the sixth, Baz walked Jasson Domínguez and Jazz Chisholm. Domínguez eventually scored on a wild pitch by Baz that culd have been called a passed ball on catcher Adley Rutschman. Chisholm came home on a single by Ryan McMahon, and José Caballero’s run-scoring double scored Austin Wells for a 6-1 lead.

“Everything felt good, up until kind of the last inning, just command was all over the place,” Baz said. “It felt like the fastball command was up until then, was good. All my pitches honestly felt good up until then. The one bad inning, I started spraying the ball.”

The Orioles, who have not been shut out this season, scored a run in the sixth when Dylan Beavers singled against Cam Schlitter (5-1). Pete Alonso singled, and Taveras walked to load the bases. After Colton Cowser’s walk scored Beavers, Jake Bird relieved Schlitter and struck out Jackson to end the inning.

The Orioles had 10 hits, eight singles, three by Blaze Alexander, and a double by Taveras in the eighth. They left 10 runners on and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Lou Trivino, whose signing was announced about two hours before gametime, pitched in the eighth inning and allowed six runs on four hits and three walks before utilityman Weston Wilson recorded the final out.

Can the Orioles bounce back? Albernaz knows that a restive fan base is unhappy with how the team has played in the last five games.

“I get it from the fans’ perspective, for sure,” Albernaz said. “You watch these games and we’re not leaving anything to be desired, right? But for us, it’s, we just have to turn the page and move on.

“And for the fans’ sake, I get it. We’re in it right now. We’re definitely in a rough stretch. But we’ve shown we can go out and compete and compete with anyone and win, and we’ve gotta get back to that.

“The boys in that room know we’ve gotta get back to that. And for us, it’s the basics, right? I think all great teams, great players, they don’t get bored with the basics, and that’s just clean baseball, fundamental baseball, taking great at-bats, our pitches make great pitches, being competitive in the strike zone, and all those little things, it’s the test of time in baseball, it’s still true today.”

What do the players think needs to be done? Alonso was 5-for-14 in the series with two home runs. He knows the Orioles must play better.

“Obviously, not great at all with how we played,” Alonso said. “Didn’t play our best baseball, didn’t play clean baseball. We had opportunities that we had that just kind of slipped away, and then, obviously, snowballs. You kind of look at the scores and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow.’

“But you kind of look at certain instances in each game, and it’s like, ‘Man,’ it’s like, ‘We were right there.’ And then, it’s just kind of one blowup inning where things kind of snowball. It wasn’t like a whole thing where it’s like, ‘Oh, man.’ We just need to do a better job of playing consistent baseball.”

Cowser hadn’t started since April 30^th, their last win.

“I think that we just got to keep showing up day in and day out,” he said.  “And I think the big thing is just not letting previous outcomes dictate the mindset and confidence moving forward. I think we have a really good ballclub. The Yankees, they played really good baseball this week, and we didn’t play our best. I think the big thing is just showing up and just trying to make strides each and every day, and things will turn.”

What does it mean? The Orioles must start winning soon. They have three games in Miami followed by three at home against the Athletics, who lead the AL West. After that, the Yankees come to Baltimore for three games from May 11^th-13^th.

What’s the word? “Higashioka, the home run stroka!”-My favorite John Sterling home run call.

What’s the stat of the day? 13. The Orioles allowed 13 runs in the eighth inning on Sunday and Monday.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? High-A Frederick left-hander Carson Dorsey was named the South Atlantic League’s Pitcher of the Week.

What’s next? The Orioles will open a three-game series in Miami on Tuesday night at 6:40. Chris Bassitt (2-2, 5.46) will start against Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 3.04).

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com