NEW YORK—Keegan Akin had a fun evening last Saturday, throwing 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the New York Yankees. Akin watched as his teammates scored a 6-1 win over Gerrit Cole.
His rematch against the Yankees didn’t go very well at all. Throwing 39 pitches in the first inning, Akin was pulled after seven batters in the Orioles’ 10-1 loss to New York on Friday night in the second game of a seven-inning doubleheader.
In the opener, the Orioles lost 6-0 as Cole allowed just two hits and struck out nine in the seven-inning game.
The Orioles, who had won four straight to move into contention for wild-card spot, have dropped three straight and are 20-24, trailing the Yankees by 3 ½ games.
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“It was a great opportunity,” rightfielder DJ Stewart said. “We just didn’t come out and execute today.”
Doubleheaders haven’t been friendly to the Orioles. They’ve lost two and split one with New York on September 4th. They have one more scheduled on September 17th with Tampa Bay, part of a five-game series.
Stewart got the Orioles off quickly in Game 2, launching his sixth home run in the past six games in the first inning against Masahiro Tanaka.
That was all they’d get against Tanaka, who allowed a run on three hits in five innings.
Akin walked DJ LeMahieu, and gave up a single to Luke Voit. Both runners moved up on Aaron Hicks’ fly ball.
Clint Frazier grounded to José Iglesias at short. LeMahieu was running on contact and was safe as Iglesias’ throw home to catcher Chance Sisco bounced in the dirt.
Gleyber Torres’ single scored Voit, and Torres moved to second when centerfielder Cedric Mullins threw home. Frazier and Torres scored on Miguel Andújar’s double, and New York led, 4-1.
“It wasn’t our best inning defensively,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
Akin was removed after he struck out Gary Sanchez.
“Keegan’s pitch count was up there, and I just couldn’t let him go past 40 pitches in an inning,” Hyde said. “A young guy that we care about. Unfortunately, his outing was cut extremely short. That puts us in a bad spot in the second game of a doubleheader.
“They were on his fastball, and a lot of foul balls. I think there were some balls in the middle of the plate that he located a little bit better, but this was a pitch-count issue.”
Akin’s ERA more than doubled in his third start from 2.08 to 4.61.
“They made some adjustments from the last time I faced them,” Akin said. “They came out swinging today, both games really. They turned it around a little bit, and you just move on to the next one.
“I didn’t mix my pitches that well at the start. I got in trouble with my fastball and trusted that. Obviously, they adjusted to that, and I was going to come with my fastball and my changeup, and they made some adjustments there.”
Travis Lakins pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Asher Wojciechowski gave up a three-run home run to Voit in the fourth to give the Yankees a 7-1 lead. Voit hit another three-run blast against Wojciechowski in the fifth, his 16th, and the Orioles trailed, 10-1.
Carson Fulmer became the 44th player used by the Orioles this season. He relieved Wojciechowski and retired all four batters he faced in his first outing since August 16th when he was with Detroit. The Orioles claimed him on waivers from Pittsburgh on September 5th.
“I was really impressed,” Hyde said. “He’s got a really live fastball, and the changeup is excellent. I thought he did a really nice job.”
Chris Davis, who was activated this week after a stint on the 10-day injured list because of left knee patella tendinitis, was hitless in three at-bats, his first action since August 19th. Davis is hitless in his last 15 at-bats dating to August 12th.
Rio Ruiz singled to start the second, and Tanaka hit Renato Núñez in the hand with a pitch. Then Tanaka retired his final 12 batters.
Bryan Holaday pinch-hit for Núñez in the seventh and thought he had a walk when he was called out on strikes by home plate umpire Pat Hoberg. Holaday was ejected for arguing with Hoberg.
Hyde said that Núñez’s hand should be fine, but he was sent for X-rays.
The Orioles allowed at least 10 runs for the third time this season, the first since August 14th.
Odds and ends: The Orioles designated outfielder Mason Williams for assignment. They needed to make a roster to move to make room for Cobb, who was the 29th man for the doubleheader. Williams was 2-for-18 (.111) in 11 games … Dean Kremer will pitch against Jordan Montgomery on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.
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