The Baltimore Orioles are so bad!
How bad are they? They're so bad, Tyler Wade got 3 hits off of them last night.
Sure, it was at Camden Yards, the bandbox on the Inner Harbor. But if you let Tyler Wade get 3 hits off your team in 1 night, it might be time to consider blowing it all up and starting over.
Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. DJ LeMahieu led off the game with a walk. Luke Voit singled. Aaron Judge drew a walk, loading the bases with nobody out. Gio Urshela struck out, but Jorge Lopez threw a pitch that catcher Chance Sisco couldn't handle. It was scored as a passed ball, and LeMahieu scored. Gary Sanchez singled home Voit and Judge.
Wade opened the 2nd inning by beating out an infield hit, but was caught stealing 2nd. This is supposedly on the team in the first place: His baserunning ability. He proved once again that he isn't good enough of a baserunner to keep him for that reason.
No matter. LeMahieu followed with a single. Voit struck out. Then Judge hit a home run. 5-0 Yankees.
Brett Gardner led off the top of the 6th with a single. After Clint Frazier flied out, Miguel Andujar singled. Wade singled to load the bases. New Oriole pitcher Tyler Wells committed a balk, moving up the runners, scoring Gardner. He struck LeMahieu out, but Voit singled to bring Andujar and Wade home. 8-0 Yankees.
Domingo German didn't allow a run until the bottom of the 6th, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks, with 6 strikeouts. Lucas Luetge pitched a perfect 7th, Justin Wilson a perfect 8th. Luis Cessa ran into a little trouble in the 9th, allowing a run, but ensuring that Aroldis Chapman will be completely fresh for tomorrow's game.
Yankees 8, Orioles 2. And this was without Giancarlo Stanton (day-to-day), Gleyber Torres (recovering from COVID), or Aaron Hicks (who went on the Injured List). WP: German (3-2). No save. LP: Lopez (1-4). The Orioles are now 16-23, just 5-15 at home, easily the worst home record in the majors.
The series concludes this afternoon, and the Yankees will be going for the sweep. Jordan Montgomery starts against John Means, who pitched a no-hitter 2 starts ago.