Clarke Schmidt had another good outing — 5 innings and only 1 run allowed — but he was bested by 35-year-old veteran righthander Kyle Gibson, who shut down the Yanks on 2 hits through 7 innings.
It was a 1-0 pitchers’ duel into the 8th, when Baltimore picked up 2 more runs off Wandy Peralta and Clay Holmes, giving the Orioles a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead.
Finally with 2 outs in the 9th, Willie Calhoun doubled in a run off Baltimore reliever Yennier Canó, to bring Anthony Volpe up as the tying run. But he lined out to center for the old ballgame.
“He did a really good job of mixing different parts of the zone with multiple pitches,” said Harrison Bader about Gibson afterwards. “He’s difficult to square up — a lot of balls just off the barrel. We just have to continue what we’re doing. Got to go back to the drawing board. Got work to do tomorrow — a task at hand with another team coming in here. Shift the energy and play our brand of baseball.”
NY falls to 30-22. Baltimore improves to 33-17. The Yanks are now 7 back of Tampa.
1. Schmidt Great
Good news for the Yankees on the evening: Clarke Schmidt pitched another good outing. He is getting better and better with each start — minimizing mistakes.
Schmidt got into trouble in the 1st inning — an infield single and then two 2-out walks loaded the bases. Manager Aaron Boone felt Schmidt was getting killed by the home plate ump — and was tossed for arguing.
Aaron Boone has been ejected for the fourth time this season. pic.twitter.com/CxqsWAS0xa
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 26, 2023
Schmidt left bases loaded by getting Austin Hays to foul out — but threw 29 pitches to get out of the inning. That upped his pitch count causing him to only pitch the 5 innings.
K-Zone showed there were 8 missed calls to that point — all against Schmidt.
“He shouldn’t have had to throw almost 30 pitches in that 1st inning,” said Boone afterwards. “From a pitch count standpoint I thought it hurt Clarke who I thought threw the ball really well against a tough lineup.”
Schmidt bounced back with a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, allowed 2 hits in a shutout 3rd inning, and got a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th. Finally in the 5th, a 1-out double by Adam Frazier and a 2-out single by Anthony Santander plated a run giving Baltimore a 1-0 lead.
Schmidt struck out Ryan Mountcastle to end the 5th at 97 pitches; his final line: 5 innings, 1 run, 4 K’s — he lowers his ERA to 5.58 (from 6.00) but takes the loss to go 2-5.
2. Gibson Better
But Kyle Gibson was better. Gibson is a 35-year old, 6’6 right hander who came up with the Minnesota Twins — spending most of his career there as a mostly .500 pitcher — his best season being 13-7 in 2019. He spent 2 years with Texas and 2 with the Phillies before signing a free agent contract with Baltimore this winter — a 1-year deal for $10 million.
Gibson is a pitcher’s pitcher: his fastball only clocks 93 MPH but he uses a multitude of pitches to get people out: an 86-MPH changeup, 93-MPH four-seam fastball, 93-MPH sinker, 90-MPH cutter, 90-MPH curve, 81-MPH sweeper, and x-MPH kitchen sinker.
Gibson allowed only 2 hits — to Willie Calhoun and Gleyber Torres — and walked 4 — but interspersed the walks. The Yanks’ only threat was runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 outs in the 4th.
3. Baltimore Makes It 3-0 in 8th
Nick Ramirez came in to pitch the 6th but got into trouble — a walk and an error by Ramirez himself put runners son the corners with 1 out. Jimmy Cordero came in and got a double play to end the inning, on a nifty play by Anthony Volpe — taking it himself for the DP.
Jimmy Cordero works out of the jam‼️
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Cordero got the 1st out of the 7th, and was relieved by Wandy Peralta, who got a double play to end that inning.
But Wandy walked 2 of the first 3 batters of the 8th (sandwiching a strikeout) and in came Clay Holmes.
Austin Hays hit a 96-MPH sinker from Holmes off the top of the right field wall — in play for a 2-RBI double and it was Baltimore 3 NY 0.
Holmes got the final 2 outs — groundout, strikeout — but the damage was done.
Albert Abreu pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 9th.
4. Yanks Finally Get a Run in 9th
Baltimore reliever Yennier Cano came in for the 9th — throwing 96-MPH sinkers offset with 90-MPH changeups.
Aaron Judge worked a walk, and Willie Calhoun hit a 2-out double to score Judge. But Anthony Volpe lined out to center for the old ballgame.
Etcetera
Besides Schmidt’s pitching, the other highlight for the Yanks was Aaron Judge bringing his dog onto the field in the pre-game practice.
🐕 🐕
Guess who made his Yankee Stadium debut yesterday?
Gus Judge‼️ pic.twitter.com/x73U02kR8V
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 26, 2023
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