If the New York Yankees were to suffer an epic collapse and miss the playoffs this season, the Orioles would be a big reason.
Baltimore faces its American League East rival for seven of each team’s final 10 games, a stretch that began Thursday night at Camden Yards. The Orioles (72-81), already eliminated from postseason contention, couldn’t take advantage of their first opportunity to put a dent in New York’s 2 1/2-game lead for the top wild-card spot as the Yankees ran away with a 7-0 win.
The loss ensured that the Orioles would fall short of a winning season for the first time since 2021 when they went 52-110.
Max Fried was nearly unhittable, blanking the home team over seven dominant innings with a career-high-tying 13 strikeouts to improve his MLB-leading win total to 18. The Orioles managed just three singles and a walk against him but never could complete a rally, going 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and leaving all four men aboard.
“It’s tough when you’ve got eight-plus pitches to cover, man,” Orioles outfielder Tyler O’Neill said. “He did a good job of locating. Got some big chases from us. We just weren’t able to execute at the end of his string there. It is what it is, man. Just got to move on and work hard and show up tomorrow.”
It’s Baltimore’s 15th shutout loss of the season, tied with the Cleveland Guardians for the third most in MLB behind the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates (both with 16).
It was a tall order for Orioles left-hander Cade Povich to try and match the Cy Young Award contender, and New York’s two-run head start didn’t happen. The Yankees wore Povich down in a 24-pitch first inning to set up second baseman Amed Rosario’s two-run double. Povich then settled in and allowed one hit the next three innings.
New York tacked on another with an RBI single by catcher Austin Wells in the fifth and threatened to plate more. They had runners on first and second base with no outs but Povich induced a double play by first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and, after an intentional walk of superstar Aaron Judge, struck out left fielder Cody Bellinger to end the frame.
“They have a lot of really good hitters top to bottom, a lot of big names you might say,” Povich said. “It’s cool to face a lot of those guys. Some guys I watched when I was younger that were on teams that I grew up watching. So, yeah, good lineup. It is really good to kind of see where I was at so far against them and come in prepared and just attack them.”
The Yankees would get their due, though.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino gave the ball to Chayce McDermott for the seventh and his erratic command produced back-to-back walks to open the inning before New York’s lineup erupted for a four-run rally — capped off by designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run double. McDermott has allowed eight runs and recorded three outs since the club’s former top pitching prospect returned to the majors as a full-time reliever earlier this week.
“I feel for him right there,” Mansolino said. “That’s a couple outings. I just feel for him. It’s tough. This is a really tough level. I think he’s got decent stuff, it’s just gonna be whether he can throw the ball over the plate or not. And he knows that, and he’s a good kid. We’re in a tough spot right there because we’re trying to cover the last four innings with three guys.
“So, we’re hoping that Chayce can give us one, one-plus right there. I think under certain circumstances you leave him out there longer, but being that he’s a homegrown kind of developed guy — I know that he came over in a trade, but he’s one of our guys — it’s just hard to watch him get beat up, so we had to pull the plug.”
Postgame analysis
The Orioles could use a guy like this Fried fellow, huh?
Fried was among the top pitchers available in free agency, ultimately landing with the Yankees on an eight-year, $218 million deal. The Orioles have never operated in that realm of spending — even Chris Davis’ $161 million contract was heavily deferred — and it’s not guaranteed that they’ll ever get there even with owner David Rubenstein who says he has no “financial limit.”
However, they’re once again this winter in need of starting pitching capable of taking over a game like Fried can. He isn’t available, but some of the top names expected to hit the market this offseason include Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease and Ranger Suárez. Other arms such as MacKenzie Gore, Sandy Alcantara, Joe Ryan and Sonny Gray could be on the move via trades.
The Yankees were in position to absorb Gerritt Cole suffering a season-ending elbow in spring training because of Fried’s presence. How will the Orioles be better prepared to swallow their own injuries next year if their luck doesn’t start to turn?
What they’re saying
Povich on what he’s learned from his first full season in the major leagues:
“Whether it be just finishing guys earlier, ending at-bats earlier, kind of compressing those bigger innings, I think, allows numbers to be better, allows you to go deeper into games, allows pitch count to go down, allows stress to be taken off of the bullpen, allows the bats to kind of come in and find a groove.
“All things that I think I’ve learned and over the past seven or so games have really tried to make a focus on. Not necessarily worrying about results but just trying to get guys in and out as soon as possible and the majority of the time when you do that, good results follow.”
By the numbers
The Orioles have finished .500 or worse 19 times since the start of the century. Only three teams have experienced futility more over that span: Pirates (22), Kansas City Royals (21) and Rockies (20).
On deck
Trevor Rogers will make his final Camden Yards start of the season Friday, giving the Orioles the advantage in the pitching matchup as New York counters with right-hander Will Warren. Baltimore has faced Warren twice this year and got to him early the first time around in April before he bounced back with a quality start in June.
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