The Yankees drop the finale of this three-game series against the Orioles 5-4

Baltimore—The Yankees dropped the finale of this three-game set 5-4 to the Orioles, as the O’s also took the series. Carlos Carrasco got the start for the Yankees, and Cade Povich got the start for the O’s. 

In the top of the first inning, Trent Grisham hit a line drive single to left field, then the captain, Aaron Judge, followed that up with a 427-foot bomb to dead center field, his 10th home run of the season, to make it 2-0 Yankees. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Ryan Mountcastle tied the game up with a two-run home run to make it a 2-2 game. Ramon Urais hit a solo shot a couple of batters later to give the O’s a 3-2 lead. Adley Rutschman then delivered an RBI single to make it 4-2. 

In the bottom of the fourth, the benches cleared after Heston Kurstead took exception to how Pablo Reyes caught the ball and landed on Kurstead as he caught it. Tim Hill replaced Carrasco on the mound after the benches cleared and picked up the final two outs of the inning. 

“It was just a high throw,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about the benches clearing. "And Pablo jumped and bumped him. I don't think anything more than that. It's really not that big of a deal. I think it was more of a misunderstanding than anything.”

Carlos Carrasco's final line: 3.1 innings pitched, eight hits allowed, four earned runs, and five strikeouts on 66 pitches. Carrasco was not great at all as he was giving up hard contact all night long. 

“Yeah, probably just a handful in the heart of the plate that they did damage with,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Carrasco's outing. “He hung in there, though a bit, and gave us a chance to battle back. I thought we were going to hang around and get to the finish line, just couldnt quite get there.” 

In the top of the fourth inning, Paul Goldschmidt crushed his second home run of the season into left-center field, making it a 4-3 game. A couple batters later, Judge picked up his second hit of the night to put his average up to .422 and a 1.277 OPS on the year, then got picked off to end the frame. 

Hill remained in the game in the bottom of the fifth and walked back-to-back hitters. The next batter looked like the Yankees had a potential double play, but Volpe bobbled it at shortstop to load the bases with nobody out. The next batter, Jackson Holiday, picked up an RBI fielder's choice to make it a 5-3 game. Fernando Cruz replaced Hill on the mound and picked up a strikeout to limit the damage. 

In the top of the sixth, Volpe hit a single to left field, and Austin Wells followed that up with a single to right field, allowing Volpe to go first to third. Then Pablo Reyes and Jasson Dominguez went down on strikes to strand runners at the corners, as Dominguez continues to struggle against left-handed pitching. 

Cruz remained in the game in the bottom of the sixth, struck out the O’s in order on some nasty splitters, and a perfectly placed fastball on the outside corner. 

In the top of the seventh, Oswald Peraza worked a walk, then Judge picked up an RBI single for his third hit and RBI of the night, to make it a 5-4 game. 

Devin Williams came in to pitch, replacing Cruz. Peraza made a great play to pick up the first out of the inning, then the Yankees picked up a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play to end the inning. 

Volpe worked a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, then Cody Bellinger, who pinch hit for Reyes, and Jasson Dominguez went down on strikes to strand the tying run. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Mark Leiter Jr. replaced Williams on the mound and picked up two strikeouts to help work around a couple of two-out singles. 

In the top of the ninth, O’s closer Felix Bautista came in and retired the Yankees in order to end this game 5-4 and take the series from the Yankees. 

The Yankees will have an off day tomorrow, then head back to the Bronx to host the Rays in a three-game series. Max Fried will get the start for the Yankees, and Ryan Pepiot will take the ball for the Rays. The first pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Yankees need to find a replacement for Carrasco, who hopefully isn't named Marcus Stroman. The Yankees' bullpen was great for the most part, other than Tim Hill, who was a little shaky, walking two guys and giving up a run. Judge is unstoppable as he will enter May with a .427 average and a 1.282 OPS. I would have loved to see him get an at-bat in the ninth, but he was left in the on-deck circle following a Grisham strikeout to end it. Dominguez continues to struggle to hit from the right side of the plate as he now has a .094 average and around a .400 OPS against left-handed pitching. Very unfortunate series loss considering the O’s were struggling coming into this series, and the Yankees outscored them by 10 runs in the series, thanks to the offensive explosion yesterday. Thankfully, the Red Sox blew a six-run lead in Toronto to lose 7-6, so the Yankees still have a 1.5 game lead in the East. We have to take at least two out of three from the Rays this weekend. Also, not Yankees related, but thoughts and prayers with the fan that fell out of the stands in right field in Pittsburgh tonight, very scary situation. 

Aaron Judge talked postgame about what it feels like to hit .427 in the MLB.

“You know, like I said, you just have to go up there with confidence,” Judge said. “I felt the same when I was hitting .170 last year at this time, and you guys kept asking me when I was going to turn it around. You can't focus on results; you have to focus on the process and get the job done. You know if you do that for 500 plus at bats, good things will happen.” 

Attention to everyone who reads these: I will be out of town this weekend, so I probably won't be posting recaps Friday or Saturday. I might try to do a modified, shorter recap for those days, but no promises, and if I do, they probably won't be out the usual 30 minutes to an hour after the game like I usually try to get these out by. But I should be back Sunday with recaps for the rest of the season.