NEW YORK–What happened? The day couldn’t have turned out any more poorly for the Orioles. Catcher Adley Rutschman was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained oblique and after one at-bat, designated hitter Jordan Westburg left after he jammed his left index finger stealing second base in the first inning.
To make things even worse, the Orioles were no-hit for seven innings by Clarke Schmidt. Gary Sánchez singled against New York reliever JT Brubaker to begin the eighth.
The Orioles’ 9-0 loss before 46,142 at Yankee Stadium on Saturday was the seventh time they’ve been shut out.
Schmidt walked Westburg and Gunnar Henderson in the first and hit Ryan O’Hearn with a pitch with one out in the fourth. Schmidt struck out five and retired 11 straight after O’Hearn reached. Brubaker walked Jackson Holliday with two outs in the eighth. He didn’t allow another hit.
“We take a lot of pride. Every major league team does,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Nobody wants to be no-hit whether it’s by a single pitcher or multiple. I don’t know if it’s a sigh of relief. It’s more of just, there’s pride involved right there. Gary saved their pride a little bit there for the night.”
Sánchez, a former Yankee who’s been booed this weekend, was relieved to get the hit.
“Well, my mindset was just to break up the no-hitter,” he said through a team translator. “You just don’t want it to happen so I was looking for a pitch in the zone trying to make a good swing.”
Oriole starter Zach Eflin (6-4) allowed six runs on 10 hits, his second straight poor outing. On Monday night, he gave up seven runs and a career-high 12 hits at Tampa Bay.
Eflin allowed home runs to Trent Grisham in the first and to former Orioles minor leaguer JC Escarra and Ben Rice in the third. He allowed three more runs in the third on Escarra’s sacrifice fly and a two-run single by Oswaldo Peraza.
The Orioles’ bullpen has needed to cover 10 2/3 innings the last two games.
“It sucks, it’s a terrible feeling,” Eflin said. “I’m supposed to go out there and pitch as long as I can and stay in the game so those guys remain rested. I had a goal going out there today, staying in the game as long as I can, and didn’t do that. Executed poorly. They take advantage of it. But at the end of the day, we have a chance to win the series tomorrow and win the road trip.”
Mansolino said the Orioles would consider making moves to shore up their bullpen for Sunday’s game.
Andrew Kittredge gave up two runs in two innings, and Scott Blewett allowed a run in the sixth. Yennier Cano struck out the side in the seventh. Infielder Luis Vázquez pitched a scoreless eighth for the Orioles (33-43).
Henderson’s hitting streak ended at 14 games.
Injury update
Westburg is day-to-day after jamming his finger, and Mansolino said he didn’t expect him to go on the 10-day injured list. Westburg spent more than six weeks on the IL with a strained left hamstring.
“I went in hard trying to steal a base, didn’t get my hand up,” Westburg said. “Surprised? Yeah. Kind of knew right away that something was weird because the sliding mitt was bent and just got more stiff and stiff as the inning went on. I wanted to stay in there. There’s nothing that pains me more than coming off the field. So it sucks. But like I said, I’m just trying to stay optimistic and hopefully be back very soon.”
Mansolino said he hadn’t discussed the MRI that Rutschman took on Saturday morning. The results came close to game time, and the Orioles recalled Maverick Handley from Triple-A Norfolk. Mansolino said he’ll have more specifics on Sunday.
What does it mean? Oriole injuries continue to pile up. This is Rutschman’s first time on the injured list as a major leaguer, and the Orioles must find a way to navigate his absence.
What’s the stat of the day? This was the first time the Orioles have been shut out since Mansolino became manager on May 17th.
What’s the word? “I think I’m not the only guy in this clubhouse who all we want to do is be on the field and compete with each other. I know Rutsch is just like me in that sense. I’m sure he’s going through it. It sucks for us, but it’s the next man up. We’re playing some good baseball right now. I know today didn’t look great, but the past couple weeks have been very positive.”-Westburg on Orioles’ spate of injuries.
What’s next? Dean Kremer (6-7, 4.80) will face Will Warren (4-4, 4.83) on Sunday morning at 11:35 a.m. The game will be shown exclusively on Roku. Matt Vasgersian will provide the play-by-play, and former Orioles manager Buck Showalter, Catonsville native and former Yankees reliever Jeff Nelson will be the analysts. The sideline reporter will be MASN’s Rob Long.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com