Orioles Take Opener as Yankees Bats go Quiet Once Again

Well, so much for that offensive resurgence we thought was happening in Milwaukee. It was right back to the same old, same old for the Yankees as they dropped the first game of their series with the Orioles because they couldn’t do a thing at the plate. It’s already the fifth time they’ve been shutout this season. And down in Box Score Briefs, a trip around the rest of the AL East.

April 29: Orioles 2, Yankees 0

The obvious joke here is that the Yankees should have saved some of those hits and runs in Milwaukee for their big test against Baltimore, but of course, it doesn’t work that way.

Every game is a different animal, and Monday was a stark reminder that while the Yankees are certainly capable of doing what they did against the Brewers, they are much more likely to hit the way they did in the opener against the Orioles.

If that sounds harsh, consider that this is just the fifth time in franchise history the Yankees have been blanked five times in their first 30 games, the last being 1984. Milwaukee was fun, but it was an aberration, two games where everything that could have gone right, did.

“We had our chances tonight,” Aaron Boone said. “We’ve had some of those nights where we’ve gotten shut down where we’ve had a lot of traffic and we just didn’t come up with a big hit. And obviously, they kept us in the ballpark. We just gotta keep giving ourselves a chance like that and trust we’ll break through. That’s baseball a little bit. I think what surprises is a handful of shutdowns have been where we’ve had a lot opportunities, and tonight was no different.”

Boone’s right, they weren’t totally feeble because they had a little traffic on the bases against Baltimore starter Grayson Rodriguez, but they repeatedly failed in clutch situations and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. That’s a rerun we’ve seen far too many times with this inconsistent team.

It didn’t help that Alex Verdugo, who has been one of their best hitters, went on the paternity list. Congrats to him and his wife, but man, that was pretty unfortunate timing before a series which - despite it only being April - is nonetheless an early litmus test.

Here are my observations:

➤ Clarke Schmidt pitched very well and did not deserve to get saddled with his first loss of the season. He made a mistake on his seventh pitch of the night to Orioles star leadoff hitter Gunnar Henderson, a knuckle curve that caught too much of the plate which Henderson launched for a home run. But that was the only run Schmidt allowed as he worked 5.2 innings and gave up just two other hits and three walks while striking out five. “Credit to him. He’s a really, really good hitter,” Schmidt said. “He hits mistakes. A lot of these guys hit mistakes. So it was good to kind of be, after that, mistake free.”

➤ The only other run came in the eighth courtesy of Caleb Ferguson who continues to struggle, though ultimately, it was Anthony Volpe’s error on a routine grounder that caused the run to score. Ferguson hit Henderson with a pitch, gave up a single to Adley Rutschman, and Ryan O’Hearn’s fly ball to right pushed Henderson to third with two outs. Here, Boone brought in Clay Holmes and he did his job, getting Anthony Santander to hit a grounder but Volpe just flat out booted the play that would have ended the inning as Henderson scored. “Just looked like he kicked it,” Boone said. “Just one of those things that happens with even the best of them.”

➤ It was another terrible night for Volpe because on top of the error, he went 0-for-4 and now, in his last 14 games he’s hitting .169 with just two extra-base hits. Why can’t the Yankees find a productive leadoff hitter? Gleyber Torres was abysmal to start the year, and now Volpe has been every bit as bad. Combined, Torres and Volpe are hitting .208 at the top of the order.

➤ Here’s a look at the chances the Yankees wasted: Austin Wells doubled with one out in the second but was stranded; Volpe walked and raced to third on Juan Soto’s one-out single in the third, but Aaron Judge whiffed and Anthony Rizzo grounded out; in the fifth, Torres’ single put men on first and second with two outs but Oswaldo Cabrera grounded out; and in the ninth, Torres led off with a single but never advanced as Cabrera, Trent Grisham and Volpe were all retired by lefty Danny Coulombe.

With the Yankees matched up with the Orioles for four games this week, I thought this morning I’d take a spin around the AL East to catch up with the other three teams we hate the most, the Rays, Blue Jays and Red Sox. I know hate is a strong word, but it’s true in this case, right?

⚾ The Rays are in last place at 14-16 and I can’t tell you how much joy that gives me. What an embarrassing weekend for them as they went to the South side of Chicago and got swept by the worst team in MLB, the dreadfully bad White Sox. Chicago started that series 3-22 and equaled its win total in three splendid days as it won 9-4, 8-7 and 4-2.

They blanked the Brewers 1-0 Monday to end their slide, but this is the first time the Rays will finish under .500 in April since 2018. Things are so bad in Tampa that manager Kevin Cash said Sunday, “If I’m being honest, we’re fortunate to be where we’re at. Simple as that. We have not played good baseball. I’d like to think better days are ahead of us. I’m confident in that. We’ve got to get some guys healthy, but this group that’s here right now also is fully capable of playing better baseball. I’d like to see that turnaround pretty quick.”

The Rays didn’t lose their 16th game last season until May 27 when they were 38-16 after their remarkable 13-0 start. They have hit just 25 home runs as a team and 2023 AL batting champ Yandy Diaz is hitting .228 with an on-base of .299 and one homer. If you can believe this, their leading hitter is ex-Yankee hole in the lineup Ben Rortvedt who is batting .362, though only in 47 at bats.

Where the Rays are really struggling is on the mound, though. Their team ERA is 4.41 but the bullpen is way worse at 5.15. Of course, their injury list is incredible as starters Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs, Shane McClanahan and Shane Baz are all on the shelf and only Baz is close to returning, perhaps sometime this month. They also just lost reliever Pete Fairbanks for an undetermined period of time.

⚾ It’s not too much better for the Blue Jays as they’re 15-15 after their 6-5 win over the Royals Monday and have a run differential of minus-23. They just ended a five-game losing streak Sunday when Kevin Gausman, who is starting to find his groove, shut down the Dodgers. But Toronto’s offense continues to struggle, particularly their three perennial stars, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and George Springer.

Vladdy has been brutal, a .228 average with just three homers and 11 RBI while Bichette is even worse at .210 with one homer and 10 RBI. Those are jarring numbers for those two. Of Guerrero, manager John Schneider said, “The swings have gotten a bit big on pitches he can really hammer. It’s about him understanding, just take your at-bat. People can look at his numbers and be as hard as they want on him, but the quality of his at-bats are good.”

And of Bichette, Schneider said, “Missing pitches that he’s hammered his whole career, just missing them. He can get as hot as anybody. He can get hitting .400 for a month or two.

Springer is 34 years old and starting to hit his decline, but still, for him to be at .218 with three homers and a mere five RBI is highly unusual. Among their starting players, 39-year-old Justin Turner leads the team with a .311 average and ex-Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa is next at .253. Imagine that.

⚾ Who would have thought the Red Sox would be this feisty, especially with the spate of injuries they’ve been dealing with all season. The latest IL stint belongs to emerging first base slugger Triston Casas who will miss at least two months with a torn rib cartilage. The Red Sox just signed Cubs castoff Garrett Cooper to take his place.

They also lost starter Bryan Bello last week and they’ve been without starter Nick Pivetta, yet the Red Sox pitching has been great. Irritatingly great. They lead MLB with a staff ERA of 2.68 because Tanner Houck has been one of the best pitchers of the year with 41 strikeouts compared to five walks and a 1.60 ERA and 0.915 WHIP. But also, Kutter Crawford has a 1.35 ERA in 33.1 innings, Pivetta was at 0.82 before he got hurt. The worst was Bello, their supposed ace, who was at 3.04 when he went down. Oh, and Kenley Jansen is defying his 36 years with a 1.86 ERA and seven saves.

Crazy to think that the Red Sox are 16-13 and Rafael Devers hasn’t even heated up. He’s hitting .279 with only three homers and seven RBI. Rookie phenom Ceddane Rafaela struggled out of the gate and is hitting just .194, but he leads the team with 17 RBI largely because he had seven against the Cubs the other day during a 17-0 blowout at Fenway.