Baltimore Orioles 8 — New York Yankees 3
Phil Hughes hit a huge bump in the road and a bus of relievers appeared in today’s 8-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
Through 5 innings, Phil Hughes pounded the strike zone aggressively, a trait he was not known for. He hit his first small bump in the road when Mark Reynolds hit his first home run of the game in the 5th inning. This may have been a sign of bad things to come though as Phil Hughes would exit in the 6th inning without recording an out and losing his 3-1 lead. A leadoff walk and a pair of singles made the score 3-2. Mark Reynolds would hurt the Yankees for his second home run of the game, a 3-run home run, that would give the Orioles a 5-3 lead and end what started as a great outing and left Yankees with a bitter feeling towards Hughes. Despite striking out 6, Hughes returned to the form fans are all too familiar with as the 2 home runs makes it 32 surrendered this season. The 8th inning seemed like a relay marathon as 5 relievers would be called on to get 3 outs. Joba Chamberlain got the final out in the 7th but couldn’t record an out in the 8th, giving up a walk and a single. September call-up, Justin Thomas, made his Yankees debut and struck out the only batter he faced. Derek Lowe would give up a single and walk in a run before his day ended. Next reliever was Boone Logan who gave up a 2-run single to Nick Markakis, his only batter faced. Another September call-up, Cory Wade, entered and would get the final 2 outs of the inning. In total, 8 Orioles came to the plate and 5 pitchers were used and they gave up 3 runs before getting 3 outs in 1 inning.
The offense continued to struggle in the final game of this 3-game series. Chris Tillman lasted only 3 innings due to elbow stiffness and he surrendered 2 of the 3 runs. The 2 runs came on the 2-run laser of a home run by outfielder Chris Dickerson. The 3rd run for the Yankees came in on a single by Nick Swisher off of recently acquired Randy Wolf. Other than that, the Yankees were not successful in scoring. Randy Wolf entered today’s game as 4-10 pitcher with an ERA above 5.00 but could only get 1 run against him. The Yankees need their injured stars to return to the team and fortify what has been a very weak offense that were gifted the only win in this series.
Win – Randy Wolf (4-10)
Loss – Phil Hughes (13-12)
Notables
Orioles
*Mark Reynolds – 3 for 5, 3 R, 2 HRs (16; Solo & 3-Run) in the 5th & 6th, 4 RBI (49)
*Matt Wieters – 1 for 4, 2 R, BB, RBI (67)
Yankees
*Chris Dickerson – 1 for 1, 2 R, BB, 2-Run Home Run (1) in the 2nd, 2 RBI (2)
*Nick Swisher – 1 for 4, RBI (77)
Current Yankees Record: 77-56
