The only real question by the time Andrew Kittredge trotted in from the Orioles bullpen was whether he'd escape with the 4-3 lead intact. He didn't come close. One out, seven runs, seven hits, and a trip back to the dugout that nobody on either side of the Stadium enjoyed watching. The New York Yankees beat Baltimore 11-3 on Sunday afternoon, taking a 3-0 lead in this four-game series and outscoring the Orioles 27-9 across those three games. That's not a lead -- that's a gap.
The Yankees earned that blowout -- nobody handed them eleven runs. For most of the afternoon this was a real game with a real tie and a real pitching performance from Max Fried that was, let's say, "watchable" (which for a May start against a .441 team is probably fine).
The Part Where the Orioles Actually Showed Up
Fried lasted 5.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks. Not lights-out, but he held together long enough to hand things to the pen. The problem was Baltimore kept scrapping back.
Blaze Alexander's RBI single in the third tied it 1-1. Then the Orioles did something genuinely annoying in the fourth -- Leody Taveras singled in Pete Alonso, and Jeremiah Jackson hit into a double play that scored Tyler O'Neill -- and just like that it was 3-3. Fried left in the sixth with two runners on and the score still knotted.
Fernando Cruz walked in and retired both. In a tie game, in the sixth, on the road in the Bronx. That's the job, and Cruz did it cleanly. Then the bottom of the sixth happened.
Ryan McMahon singled in Jasson Domínguez to make it 4-3. Grant Wolfram took the loss on that one, and he deserved it -- he came in with one inherited runner, added two more baserunners of his own, and let the go-ahead run score. The Yankees didn't look back after that, mostly because the back half of that game was mostly carnage.
Rice and Judge Got There First
Ben Rice opened the scoring in the first on his twelfth home run of the year -- a 379-foot fly ball to right on a Gibson curveball, hit at 109.8 mph. Clean, quick, and a little cruel considering what happened to him two innings later.
Rice left in the third with a left hand contusion from a pickoff attempt at first base. X-rays were negative and he's day-to-day, but he'd already done his damage: 2-for-2, a homer, 2 runs scored, and a painful exit that nobody wanted. You hate to see it. (You also very much appreciate him fighting through the at-bat before letting anyone know something was wrong.)
Then Aaron Judge did what Aaron Judge does when a pitcher throws him two curveballs in a row that he shouldn't throw Aaron Judge. He put the second one 413 feet into the center field seats for a 2-run homer -- his thirteenth of the year -- and the Yankees had a 3-1 lead that felt considerably more comfortable than it turned out to be.
The Judge swing was the biggest momentum play of the game, per win probability. The Orioles clawed back. They always do, until they don't.
The Martian, Finally Launched
Jasson Domínguez came into today without a home run on the season. He wasn't struggling -- he'd been making contact, getting on base, doing the things you want a center fielder to do. The ball just hadn't left the park yet.
The eighth took care of that.
Kittredge hung a slider and Domínguez turned on it -- 348 feet to right-center, 2 RBI, and the Stadium finally got to see what the Martian looks like when he goes deep. Two at-bats later, he doubled off the left field wall to score Judge and put the game at 11-3. Final line: 3-for-5, 2 runs, 3 RBI, and the kind of afternoon that makes you think the home run drought was just a slow first chapter.
He'd been patient. The first one was worth waiting for.
Kittredge and the Eighth
Seven hits. Seven runs. One out recorded. Trent Grisham drove in one on a sac fly to left. Paul Goldschmidt singled in two. Jazz Chisholm Jr. added another sac fly. Then Domínguez's double capped it.
Kittredge faced eight batters, got one out, and left. The box score: 0.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER. You don't see that line very often, and it'll come up every time someone asks who had the worst outing of the week.
Cruz, Headrick, and Bednar combined for 3.2 scoreless innings. No drama, no inherited runners scoring, nothing interesting to report -- and after the chaos of the eighth, you couldn't ask for more from those three.
What's Next
The Yankees are 24-11 and up 1.5 games in the AL East. They've won four in a row and haven't lost to Baltimore all series. Game 4 is tomorrow, and the Orioles have now dropped five straight.
If you're Baltimore, you're hoping whoever's starting tomorrow has better luck with a certain first baseman from the Bronx. Rice is day-to-day, but based on today, he's also hitting .343 with 12 home runs, and his lineup has three other guys who can do the same thing to you.
Tomorrow should be fun.
Jimmy writes the Bronx Pinstripes game recap after every Yankees game. Beat-reporter pacing, fan's heartbeat. He calls opposing players by last name and has no patience for dead-air innings.
