Orioles’ offense vanishes as Yankees complete series sweep, 6-1

BALTIMORE—The Orioles knew how important this three-game series with the New York Yankees was. If they could win at least two of three, they’d remain among the wild-card leaders. Instead, they lost each of the three games and have fallen two games behind the Minnesota Twins, who lead a mediocre group.

On Thursday night, Oriole starter Kyle Bradish allowed five runs, two unearned because of a Gunnar Henderson error, and threw 38 pitches in an excruciating third inning as the Orioles lost to the Yankees, 6-1, before 29,200 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are now 61-67, the first time they’ve been six games below .500 since July 11^th. After they won the first three games of last weekend’s four-game series at Tampa Bay, they were two games under .500 and leading the wild-card pack.

In the New York series, they were 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position. They were 0-for-6 in each of the first two games and 0-for-4 in the final game.

“We just couldn’t get the big hit, and then we needed to get runners on base, we had a tough time doing that to kind of get the inning going,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “That was the biggest thing. You can’t give any big-league team extra outs, and that’s what hurt us today, and especially with Gerrit Cole on the mound.

“We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game. You have to go out there and compete and battle. We just couldn’t get it done, couldn’t get guys on base, and when we did we just couldn’t get the big hit.”

Their fourth straight defeat was sealed in the third. Bradish allowed five hits and was hurt most by a grounder to second with runners on first and third and none out. José Caballero’s grounder was fielded by second baseman Jackson Holliday, who tossed to shortstop Gunnar Henderson for a forceout and a possible double play. But instead of catching the ball, Henderson dropped it as he came across the bag.

Spencer Jones scored from third and Austin Wells was safe at second. Ben Rice’s run-scoring single brought Wells home, and Heliot Ramos’ RBI double scored Rice to put the Orioles behind, 3-0.

New York (72-55) added on with home runs by Luis Garcia Jr., his 25^th, and Jones’ sixth in the sixth inning.

Bradish (7-12) threw 100 pitches in 5 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits, two walks and striking out five.

“Errors are going to happen,” Bradish said. “I threw two bad pitches to let those first two guys on, so we shouldn’t have even been in that situation. And then, yeah, the fourth and fifth were good. Felt good. Told Alby I felt good going out for the sixth and just threw a bad slider there to Garcia and then big guy put a good swing on the two-seam.”

New York starter Gerrit Cole (7-6) allowed only Dylan Beavers’ fifth home run, his second in two nights in six innings. The Orioles had four hits against Cole.

Jazz Chisholm’s RBI triple against Albert Suárez scored Garcia in the eighth.

Ryan Yarbrough pitched three perfect innings for his third save.

The Orioles, who are 2-8 against the Yankees this season, have a chance to make up for this series when they play three games against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Why aren’t the Orioles playing well? Albernaz is puzzled.

“It’s just the consistency piece,” Albernaz said. “That’s what’s been eluding us all year, just playing consistent baseball. Like, we keep on showing flashes and stretches, and then flashes and stretches the other way.

“So, for us, it’s just, go out there and play consistent baseball. It’s taxing mentally to do that, but also, our guys are fully capable of that. We’re at the point of the year where we have to lock in for every game, every pitch, to put ourselves in the position to do something cool, something special. But, also, it’s easier said than done, but our guys in the clubhouse know that’s what they have to do.”

How did Bradish pitch? Bradish and Shane Baz, who’ve combined for 25 losses, both have suffered from a lack of run support, but Bradish isn’t shirking responsibility.

“I think there was a lot more negative than there was positive in this outing,” Bradish said. “Just didn’t really execute the game plan, threw some bad pitches and they put good swings on it.”

Albernaz knew it wasn’t Bradish at his best.

“That third inning was a tough one,” he said. “That error hurt a lot. He threw a lot more pitches than he should have, and that cascading effect was real. And in the sixth, he had a lot of pitches after five, but K.B. being the competitor he is and understanding where the bullpen was at, wanted to go back out. He used the rest of his pitches because the bullpen’s running hot and saved the ‘pen, and he left that slider out over to Garcia. And then that two-seam just left middle to Jones.”

What does it mean? The Orioles have no choice but to win the Tampa Bay series or else their season is effectively over.

What’s the stat of the day? 12. Pete Alonso’s first-inning single gave him a 12-game hitting streak, a career best.

What’s the word? “I’ve been actively trying to problem-solve and put a finger on [it]. Understand, I’m the manager of the team and the guy in charge, and it’s my job to figure that out and I haven’t yet. And that’s on me. That’s the biggest thing. We have to figure out how to keep our guys playing that consistent brand of baseball and actively trying to figure that out.”–Albernaz on why the Orioles lack consistency.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Anthony Eyanson pitched seven innings, giving up one run and five hits in Double-A Chesapeake’s 2-0 loss to Richmond.

Ty Head hit his second home run in Single-A Delmarva’s 7-4 loss to Hickory. Connor Gehr allowed all seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

High-A Frederick and Wilmington were postponed by rain. They’ll play a doubleheader on Friday.

What’s next? The Orioles will open a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. Trevor Rogers (8-8, 4.15) will start against Freddy Peralta (5-10, 5.27). Game time is 7:15. The game will be shown exclusively on Apple TV.

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