Orioles swept by Yankees in a dismal four-game series

NEW YORK — It was a night of what-ifs for the Orioles, at least until this game went off the rails again.

The non-challenge in the first. The error in the third. The video review overturn in the sixth. When in a rut like this, the details matter even more. And yet, at many critical junctures Monday night, the details were not executed well enough for Baltimore to escape Yankee Stadium with a win.

The Orioles were thoroughly outplayed during this dismal four-game series. Monday’s 12-1 loss was but another example of New York’s superiority on the field. The Yankees have now won 12 of their last 13 games against the Orioles.

“We just weren’t competitive,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to win, whether it be mistakes, miscues, whatever the case may be.”

The Orioles never led at any point during the four-game series. It’s only the third time in team history the Orioles never led in a four-game set, according to Elias Sports Bureau, and it’s the first time since 1988 — the infamous season when the team got off to an 0-21 start.

This also extends Baltimore’s season-high five-game losing streak, and it leaves the team at the lowly mark of 15-20 — only two games better off than the Orioles were last year at this time. In 2025, a May spiral led to the firing of manager Brandon Hyde. With a new coaching staff, that’s not a likely outcome this year. But in the back of Orioles fans’ minds remains last season’s disappointments and the worry that this year could follow a similar trajectory.

By the end of the eighth inning, after New York plated six runs against newly signed right-hander Lou Trivino, utilityman Weston Wilson found himself on the mound for the second time in 10 days.

The Orioles have now lost five straight games by five or more runs, which is the longest streak in franchise history.

“Not great at all with how we played,” Pete Alonso said. “Didn’t play our best baseball, didn’t play clean baseball. We had opportunities that we had that just kind of slipped away, and then, obviously, snowballs. You kind of look at the scores and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow.’ But you kind of look at certain instances in each game, and it’s like, ‘Man,’ it’s like, ‘We were right there.’”

It’s too soon to know which way the winds will blow the Orioles — whether they’ll recover from this small, four-game sample in New York, or whether the poor performances here against the American League’s best team are a sign of frustrations to come.

In the near-term, though, what is clear is Baltimore couldn’t hang in this series. The Orioles didn’t help themselves, either.

Right-hander Shane Baz might’ve avoided an immediate deficit in the first inning had he or catcher Adley Rutschman challenged the fifth pitch of his at-bat against Aaron Judge. With Trent Grisham having already doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, Baz spotted a two-strike cutter at the bottom of the zone. It was called a ball.

Three pitches later, Baz hung a curveball that Judge unloaded on for a two-run homer.

Albernaz said he wants his catchers to be more aggressive on challenge calls, “and for me, that’s a perfect time to use it right there, where Judge is up and Shane makes his pitch. He should be rewarded for it.”

In the third, the Yankees wouldn’t have scored had the Orioles not gifted Grisham an extra 90 feet. He doubled again, and when center fielder Leody Taveras threw the ball in to cut-off man Gunnar Henderson, the shortstop couldn’t pick it. As it bounced away from Henderson, Grisham took third. He promptly scored on a sacrifice fly.

Baz didn’t have his best command. In 5 2/3 innings, he walked five batters, including one intentionally. But he almost escaped the sixth inning with the Orioles trailing by just two runs, even though he uncorked a wild pitch with a runner on third. Jasson Domínguez broke home from third and slid into the plate. He initially was ruled out, with Rutschman’s flip to Baz seemingly ending the inning.

Instead, upon review, Domínguez was ruled to have beaten the tag. Ryan McMahon added an RBI single, and José Caballero’s double off right-hander Yennier Cano plated the fifth earned run against Baz.

“Just personally, not good enough,” Baz said. “I’ve got to be better than that. I’ve got to give us a way better chance, especially last game of the series, kind of in the situation we’ve got to start winning games.”

This was all exacerbated because the Orioles flailed with runners in scoring position. Rutschman and Blaze Alexander each grounded into double plays with two runners on and no outs, and the Orioles finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

By the end of this one, with Wilson on the mound yet again, there is no other way to describe what occurred at Yankee Stadium from an Orioles perspective than this: A disaster.

“I get it from the fans’ perspective, for sure,” Albernaz said. “You watch these games and we’re not leaving anything to be desired, right? But for us, it’s, we just have to turn the page and move on. And for the fans’ sake, I get it. We’re in it right now. We’re definitely in a rough stretch.”