BALTIMORE — Hours before the Yankees clashed with the Orioles for the first time this season, Aaron Boone acknowledged the threat in front of his club.
While the Yankees entered the game 19-10 and in possession of a one-game lead in the American League East, Baltimore was 17-10 and right behind them after winning 101 games and the division last season.
“They’re definitely formidable,” Boone said of an Orioles squad that can no longer be considered jumpstart or surprising.
That they were on Monday, as Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez swerved around traffic and dueled with the Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt in a 2-0 Orioles win.
The Yankees had plenty of opportunities against the young right-hander, but Rodriguez threw 5.2 scoreless innings while totaling five hits, three walks, three strikeouts and 101 pitches.
The 24-year-old enjoyed similar results in his first-ever start against the Yankees, blanking them for 6.1 frames last July.
“Good stuff,” Anthony Volpe said of Rodriguez following an 0-for-4 performance. “Definitely attacked with his secondary pitches. So tough to prepare for.”
Schmidt, meanwhile, ended up going 5.2 innings while tallying three hits, one earned run, three walks and five strikeouts over 92 pitches.
The righty’s one mistake came against Gunnar Henderson, who drilled a leadoff jack in the opening inning. The shortstop and Mike Trout now lead the majors with 10 home runs.
“I’d thrown two curveballs that I didn’t execute,” Schmidt said of the Henderson at-bat. “He kind of looked awkward on them, and then I was like, ‘If I can execute one, I should probably be able to get a swing and miss.’ I got it down, but not down enough. I think that’s kind of his honey hole.
“Credit to him. He’s a really, really good hitter. He hits mistakes. A lot of these guys hit mistakes. So it was good to kind of be, after that, mistake free.”
Gunnar gone!
Gunnar Henderson hits his 10th home run of the season for the @Orioles! pic.twitter.com/SfO4yrTfvz
— MLB (@MLB) April 29, 2024
While Schmidt blanked the Orioles from there, the Yankees couldn’t get the run back.
The same offense that scored 36 times over the weekend in Milwaukee failed to push a run past Rodriguez and Baltimore’s bullpen. The Bombers ultimately left 10 men on base and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position while getting shut out for the fifth time this year.
“We had our chances tonight,” Boone said. “We’ve had some of those nights where we’ve gotten shut down where we’ve had a lot of traffic and we just didn’t come up with a big hit. And obviously, they kept us in the ballpark. We just gotta keep giving ourselves a chance like that and trust we’ll break through.
“That’s baseball a little bit. I think what surprises is a handful of shutdowns have been where we’ve had a lot opportunities, and tonight was no different.”
The Orioles plated another run in the eighth inning after Boone brought Clay Holmes into a non-save situation in an effort to hold the score at 1-0. The closer did his job by inducing a groundball, but Volpe booted it at short. The error allowed Henderson to score.
“Just looked like he kicked it,” Boone said. “Just one of those things that happens with even the best of them.”
Added Volpe: “Gotta be more decisive.”
With the first game of this division showdown in the books, the Yankees will turn to Nestor Cortes on Tuesday.
The southpaw has been solid thus far, recording a 3.50 ERA over six starts. Cortes most recently took the loss against the Athletics on April 25, as he gave up three earned runs and two homers over seven innings at Yankee Stadium.
Dean Kremer will start the second game of the series for Baltimore. The righty owns a 4.61 ERA through five starts.