About Last Night: Yankees 4, Orioles 2

About Last Night: Yankees 4, Orioles 2

By Derek McAdam

June 19, 2024

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The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles last night by a score of 4-0. And while the Yankees will certainly take the win, they are awaiting news on one of the best player’s injury status. (Update - no break!)

Quick Stats:

W: Nestor Cortes Jr. (4-5): 6 IP, 5 H, 6 K

L: Albert Suarez (3-1): 3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 3 K

Following last night’s win, the Yankees are now playing .500 baseball against AL East teams this season with a 10-10 record.

The Big Story: After losing back-to-back games against the Red Sox in Boston, the Yankees returned home hoping for a reset against the Orioles, who took three-of-four games against New York six weeks ago in Baltimore. In the 2nd, Anthony Volpe put the Yankees on the board with an RBI single that scored Austin Wells.

In the 3rd, Aaron Judge was hit by a pitch on the wrist-area, he stayed in the game for the remainder of the inning, but was eventually taken out of the game. Giancarlo Stanton laced an RBI single into center field to score Judge and give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Gleyber Torres then hit a sacrifice fly into right field to score Alex Verdugo and extend the Yankee lead to 3-0.

In the 5th, the Yankees had another scare when Torres was hit by a pitch on his finger, although he stayed in for the remainder of the game and didn’t seem to have any lingering issues in the field. DJ LeMahieu then added onto the lead with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Torres and make the new score 4-0.

While Cortes gave up several hits and went to four full counts, he was able to keep runs off the board and gave the Yankees a quality start.

In the 9th, Clay Holmes came on in a non-save situation. After allowing a single to Gunnar Henderson, Anthony Santander hit a two-run home run into the right field seats to cut the Yankee lead in half at 4-2. However, Holmes was able to retire the final three batters to end the game.

Player of the Game: While Cortes gave the Yankees a very solid start, I’m going to give this honor to Ben Rice, who made his MLB debut last night at first base for the Yankees. He went 1-for-4 with a single and will likely be seeing plenty of time at first base due to Anthony Rizzo’s injury.

Notable Performances: Cortes was solid last night with his six shutout innings. Juan Soto also got on base with three walks last night and Torres’ sacrifice fly was the ultimate game-winning RBI.

Better to Forget: It is yet another appearance that Holmes would like to forget. He didn’t pitch in the Boston series, making his last appearance last Thursday’s blown save in Kansas City. Luckily for him, it was not a save opportunity last night.

My Take: It seems that Judge did not suffer a broken bone.

As for the rest of the game, the Yankees were able to push some runs across the plate early on in the game against Suarez, who has been very good this season. I was glad to see them take advantage of his off-night, but they also left 10 runners on base, which is not a great number to see. If only two of those runs would’ve scored, it may have been a completely different ballgame.

Nonetheless, the Yankees were able to walk away with a win, which I will gladly take. The next task to do is take the series against the Orioles.

My condolences also go out to the family and friends of Willie Mays, who died yesterday at the age of 93. Mays is one of the greatest players to ever step foot on a baseball field and has a resume that included 24 All Star appearances. His legacy will live on for a very long time to come.

What’s Next?: The Yankees will be right back in action tonight against the Orioles. Cade Povich is scheduled to start for the Orioles, while Gerrit Cole is set to make his season debut in pinstripes for the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST.