Yankees pitcher Luis Gil started the day as the AL ERA leader. He won’t end it that way, courtesy of the Orioles.
You can be forgiven for thinking that this was going to be a tough one for the Orioles. In the rubber match of their series against the Yankees, with the “haven’t lost a series against the AL East” streak at stake, the O’s had to stare down the reality of facing down Yankees starter Luis Gil, the American League leader in ERA. The way it turned out, it was not that the Orioles hitters were stuck against Gil. It was Gil who was stuck facing the Orioles.
From the first pitch that Gil threw, which Gunnar Henderson rocketed into right field and over a deer-in-the-headlights Juan Soto’s head, the Orioles were on Gil. Henderson eventually scoring in the first inning was only the prologue for what the O’s unleashed on Gil in the second. Eight of nine Orioles reached and six of them scored before Gil was sent to the showers. The O’s continued the dogpile across the rest of the game and when the dust settled, they were on top following a 17-5 beatdown.
The stats masters were quick to note that it’s been 19 years since the Orioles scored as many runs as this against the Yankees (17-9 on 9/27/2005) and 35 years since the O’s have scored more when facing the Yankees in New York (16-3 on 6/5/1989). It is the most runs that the Orioles have scored in a game in more than three years (18-5 vs. Cleveland on 6/6/2021).
The Orioles came out and did this in the rubber match of a could-go-either-way series between the two American League teams with the best record so far this year. They kicked the Yankees butts. They made the Yankees finish the game with a position player as the pitcher. They’re 5-2 against the Bronx Bombers in 2024, and now sit only a half-game back for the AL East division lead.
Oh yeah, and in winning the game and the series, the Orioles set a new major league record for consecutive series against their own division without a loss. This is the 22nd straight series where the O’s either won or tied against their own division. No one has ever done that many in a row, going back to the advent of division play in 1969. Gil’s ERA ballooned from 2.03 to 2.77, dropping him from first in the AL to seventh. O’s starter Corbin Burnes is now tied for first at 2.14. That’s the good stuff.
There was really just one thing to complain about with how the Orioles performed on Thursday afternoon. That was their own starting pitcher, Cole Irvin, who in spite of being staked leads of 7-0, 8-1, and 11-3, was not able to get through the fifth inning. Irvin was tagged for five runs on five hits, including two home runs. Length was needed in a blowout and Irvin could not deliver it. No other negative words about him or any other Oriole will be accepted today.
Three Orioles relievers combined to finish off the game without much excitement. Bryan Baker relieved Irvin and kept his inherited runner from scoring, then went on to pitch the sixth as well. Keegan Akin did not allow a baserunner across two innings of work, and Nick Vespi took it the rest of the way with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. That’s a solid job by these guys to let everyone else get some rest before the weekend series against the Astros. Seven actual Yankees pitchers were used in this game. We’ll see if the Braves can take advantage of a tired bullpen.
One thing about a 12-run obliteration is that no one single play really feels like it matters all that much. Take them all together and that’s what gets the beatdown margin. Jordan Westburg started the second inning rally with an 0-2 base hit off of Gil. Cedric Mullins followed with a home run, one pitch after bunting the ball foul. That made for a 3-0 Orioles lead, and after they loaded the bases with one out, Ryan Mountcastle cleared them all with a double.
These six runs would have been enough by game’s end, though they certainly wouldn’t have made for such a comfortable victory, so it’s a good thing that the Orioles kept on scoring. Other highlights included Anthony Santander hitting his TENTH home run just in the month of June, a three-run shot off of signed-off-the-street reliever Tim Hill.
These runs went as unearned against Hill – yes, Hill was one of the guys pitching in relief of Gil, but Gil is pronounced “heel” so it only looks funny – due to unfortunate Yankees fielder Oswaldo Cabrera making one of two errors. The Yankees had three errors in all. Santander’s home run was his 19th of the season. He’s now slugging .502. Can we convince him that it’s June the whole rest of the summer?
Henderson, Mountcastle, and Adley Rutschman each had three hits in the game, and combined for four walks. That’s a good day from your 1-2-3 hitters. Four other Orioles had multi-hit games and all nine members of the starting lineup got at least one hit, even if it took Ramón Urías facing the position player in the ninth to get his. This was a top-to-bottom effort and everyone played a part.
Considering all of the whining that has come from the Yankees players, their associated media ecosystem, and their fans about the Orioles apparently throwing at Yankees, it is also worth noting the tally of hit by pitches in this game. Two Orioles batters were hit by Yankees in this game. Zero Yankees batters were hit by Orioles.
This is not an accusation that Westburg or Austin Hays were hit on purpose. They obviously weren’t, unlike what happened with Henderson yesterday. Westburg was hit with the bases loaded by a command-challenged Gil. Of course he didn’t want to force in a run. The facts remain what they are. The Orioles got their revenge in the place where it counts the most, the scoreboard.
Done with New York for a while, the Orioles fly off to Houston for their next series. Grayson Rodriguez is set to make the start in the 8:10 Eastern opener on Friday night. The Astros are calling up Double-A pitcher Jake Bloss, their third round pick a year ago, to make his debut in the game.