For the New York Yankees, the first inning of yesterday’s matinee game at Camden Yards foretold the story of how the game would end. It was a game in which the Baltimore Orioles celebrated the 25th anniversary of Cal Ripkin’s 2,131 straight games, breaking the previous record of New York Yankee Lou Gehrig. It was also the major league pitching debut of Baltimore’s Dean Kremer.
With Kremer on the mound in the first inning, the young man struck out the “machine,” DJ LeMahieu. He followed that up by striking out Luke Voit. At the bottom of the frame, Masahiro Tanaka took the mound for the Yankees and immediately gave up a two-run home run to D.J. Stewart. That first inning pretty well foretold how the entire game would end up.
There is not much good to talk about in this game, as the Yankee pitching again failed, allowing the Orioles 9 hits and five runs. The Yankee offense remained silent while committing two costly errors. The last time the Yankees lost to the Orioles was a single game on March 31, 2019. Then the Yankees would go on to win 19 straight games from the O’s. The sliding Yankees have never lost three straight games to Baltimore at Oriole Park, until yesterday.
Unfortunately the Yankees in the last few weeks, just don’t seem to be able to get out of their own way. They have now lost 13 of their last 18 games. This unprecedented collapse has taken them from first in the East Division, to third, and drawing them closer to completely missing out on the postseason. Going into yesterday’s game they were tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for second place in the East. With the Blue Jays win yesterday and the Yankees loss, the Yankees have slipped to 6.5 games behind the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays, and one game behind the Jays, who they will face in Buffalo for a 3 game set, starting on Monday night.
With only twenty games remaining to be played, it will be impossible with the Rays playing the way they are, for the Yankees to regain the lead in the East. With the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Tigers playing good ball, the Yankees may even miss the eighth spot in the postseason.
Dean Kremer had a dream debut, in his first game in the majors. He held the Yankees to just one run, setting down 11 Yankees in a row by the end of the Yankee half of the fifth inning. His final line was six innings pitched with one hit, one run, and three walks while striking out seven Yankees. Meanwhile, Masahiro Tanaka pitched a pretty good game but got no run support and a few infield bungled plays, from DJ LeMahieu and Miguel Andujar. The winning pitcher was Kremer and the loser, Tanaka.
Miguel Andujar’s bat came to life in the game, getting three hits, although he was left on base all three times. DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit were both hitless in the game. Erik Kratz catching for the admonished Gary Sanchez, knocked in the only run for the Yankees as the previously walked Clint Frazier scored.
In an unusual move, manager Aaron Boone, having called out Gary Sanchez for his poor play, sat him for the game in favor of the better hitting Erik Kratz. Kratz has a batting average of .296 and Sanchez .130, the lowest batting average of any catcher in baseball.
The New York Yankees have traveled to play their first games ever in Buffalo, against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays being denied the ability to play in their Roger’s Center by the Canadian government, finally found a home to play in at Sahlen Field the largest capacity triple-A stadium in the country. The Yankees will play two-night games and a matinee, before returning to Yankee Stadium for four games against the Orioles.