Yankees' first Orioles test shows what they can't afford to do

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BALTIMORE — For the New York Yankees, Monday night was both a reality check and an itemized receipt, clearly spelling out how tough it's going to be for them against the Baltimore Orioles.

After an offensive explosion over the weekend against the Milwaukee Brewers, scoring 36 runs in three games, they were shut out 2-0 in their first matchup of the year with O's — the athletic, energetic team they expect to battle all year for American League East supremacy. It was the fifth time the Yankees had been blanked this season.

And the vibe was drastically different. The Yankees used to be able to look at Camden Yards as Yankee Stadium South. Blue shirts and "Let's go Yankees!" chants had become commonplace. Now? With Baltimore looking to prove its resurgent 2023 wasn't a fluke, and with its roster stuffed with young talent, the crowd was filled with orange, and in the eighth inning, chants of "Yankees suck!" weren't booed away.

"You've got to tip your caps sometimes," said Aaron Judge, who had an uneventful day in left field, playing there for the first time in his career with Alex Verdugo placed on the paternity list earlier Monday.

Ultimately, the Yankees missed opportunities at the plate, squandered a strong performance from starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt and suffered a damaging eighth-inning error from shortstop Anthony Volpe, one of their most reliable gloves.

Missed opportunities

Two stats stood out: The Yankees were hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position. They also stranded 10 runners. Understandably, manager Aaron Boone wasn't freaking out.

"We've had some of those nights where we've got shut down where we had a lot of traffic but we didn't get the big hit and they kept us in the ballpark," he said. "Just got to keep giving ourselves a chance like that and trust we'll break through. But I thought we put together a lot of good at-bats at the top."

Maybe it's a different story for the Yankees if they were in the Bronx. In the third inning, Juan Soto crushed a line drive 362 feet that would have left Yankee Stadium for a two-run homer and a 2-1 Yankees lead, but it clanked off the tall wall in right field.

Soto smokes one off the wall and the Yanks are threatening in the 3rd! pic.twitter.com/q7wI8oSQ3p

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 29, 2024

But there were other chances. Later in the third, they put runners on the corners with one out only for Judge to strike out and Anthony Rizzo to bounce out. In the ninth, Gleyber Torres singled, and Oswaldo Cabrera's long fly to left-center nearly tied the game at 2-2. But it fell for an out at the warning track, and the Yankees couldn't capitalize. And there was the seventh inning when Judge walked to the plate to face reliever Yennier Cano, taking over for Cionel Pérez, who left with Volpe on second base. But Judge swung at the first pitch — a middle-middle fastball at 97 mph — and just missed taking it out to right field.

Boone called it "frustrating."

"Those guys are making their pitches," Judge said. "But guys were putting the ball in play. That's all you can ask for in that situation. Just keep getting guys on base and try to drive a pitch when you get one. A couple of guys hit the ball hard and just hit the ball."

The Orioles (153) and Yankees (148) were first and second, respectively, in runs scored in the AL as of late Monday.

Schmidt squandered

Schmidt's 5 2/3 innings made for his longest outing of the season as he gave up just one run — a solo shot to leadoff man Gunnar Henderson. He dueled with righty Grayson Rodriguez, who also went 5 2/3 frames. Schmidt had five strikeouts around three walks and three hits. He leaned most heavily on his 92.7 mph cutter (39 percent of his 92 pitches).

"That's a tough one for him to navigate — a lot of switch hitters, lefties (and) thump," Boone said.

Schmidt said his sole mistake came on what he considered to have been a good pitch. In a 2-2 count, he threw a curveball down and in. But it wasn't inside enough. In fact, Schmidt said he thought he threw it in Henderson's "honey hole."

"Credit to him," Schmidt added. "He's a really, really good hitter. He hits mistakes."

It's a Gunnar stunnar! pic.twitter.com/pbz9bSAfDc

— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) April 29, 2024

Overall, Schmidt felt good about his night. His ERA fell to 3.19 from 3.55.

"The big thing was giving up an early run and then keeping my team in the game and not giving up anymore after that," he said. "Just kind of limiting damage. As far as getting to my lanes and my stuff, I felt like this was one of the better ones of my career. Just felt really clean out there, very calm."

Volpe's miscue

Boone brought in closer Clay Holmes with runners on the corners and two outs in the eighth. Then Holmes got just what he needed — a grounder right to Volpe, who misjudged it as it bounced out of his glove and squirted away from him. Henderson scored to give the O's a 2-0 lead.

2-0 pic.twitter.com/IxujMCfsIC

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 30, 2024

It was Volpe's fourth error of the season. He was the Yankees' first rookie to win a Gold Glove last year.

He said he simply didn't read the hop well enough, and he was caught between whether to try to tag second base or throw to first base.

"Got to be more decisive," he said.

(Photo of Anthony Rizzo: Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)