'They're legit': Yanks tip cap after bats cooled by formidable O's

BALTIMORE -- It was not long ago that some of the Yankees’ hitters would eagerly count the days until a fresh opportunity to visit the offensive paradise known as Camden Yards, where they savored many visits feasting on the inferior pitching of an also-ran Orioles club.

Those days are officially over. After spending most of last season looking up at Baltimore in the American League East standings, the Yankees know how formidable their neighbors to the south have become. Their first meeting of the year did nothing to contradict that.

“They’re legit,” Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt said after his club’s 2-0 loss on Monday evening. “When you face them and then you face other teams, you really kind of feel it. They really hit mistakes. Their 7-8-9 guys are high-end hitters. … It's definitely a credit to them and what they’ve built over there."

Schmidt left his seventh pitch of the night down and in to Gunnar Henderson, who whacked the knuckle curve over the right-field wall for his 10th home run of the season, tying the Angels’ Mike Trout for the Major League lead.

The O’s pitching staff took care of the rest, silencing a Yankees offense that had scored 15 runs in back-to-back drubbings of the Brewers coming into this series. Five of the Yanks’ 11 losses so far this season have been shutouts.

“I haven’t really thought much of it,” said captain Aaron Judge, who played his first career game in left field. “We’ve got a great lineup. Guys are getting on base. We’re having great at-bats. It’s part of the season. Things like that happen. We never want it to happen, but all we’ve got to do is get ready for tomorrow.”

Monday marked the Yankees’ first loss in Schmidt’s six starts this season. Gold Glove shortstop Anthony Volpe committed an eighth-inning error that allowed the Orioles to score their second run, with Henderson coming home on an Anthony Santander grounder.

“I was just in-between everything on a hop, whether to go to second [base] or first,” Volpe said. “Definitely, you’ve got to be more decisive.”

Manager Aaron Boone said that the Yankees had plenty of opportunities to break through a “frustrating” contest in which they went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, leaving 10 men on base.

“We’ve had some of those nights where we’ve gotten shut down when we’ve had a lot of traffic,” Boone said. “We didn’t come up with a big hit, and they kept us in the ballpark.”

Grayson Rodriguez permitted five hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings, but kept New York from cashing in. Rodriguez escaped a two-on, one-out spot in the third inning by striking out Judge and inducing Anthony Rizzo to ground out.

“Any time you can face a lineup like that, especially in the division, you know you're going to be in for a dogfight,” Rodriguez said, “and that's what that was. Obviously, [there are] a lot of stacked lineups in this division. That’s one of the best in the league.”

In the sixth, Rizzo had trotted halfway to first base when home-plate umpire Ben May rung him up on a called third strike. After a walk, Giancarlo Stanton was thrown out at second base from right field on a fielder’s choice, as Stanton had to hold on Austin Wells’ liner.

“Guys were putting the ball in play,” Judge said. “That’s all you can ask for in that situation; keep getting guys on base and then try to drive a pitch when you get some.”

Juan Soto also hit into tough luck in the seventh, with a hit taken away on a hard grounder to first base.

“We’ve got to keep giving ourselves chances like that,” Boone said, “and trust we’ll break through.”

In the ninth, Oswaldo Cabrera hit a deep fly ball to left field that might have landed in the seats for a game-tying homer three years ago, before the Orioles’ renovations made that area of the ballpark more pitcher-friendly.

Instead, Cabrera’s drive was secured easily by Colton Cowser, with Danny Coulombe notching his first save two batters later.

“A couple of feet to the right, closer to center field, and we’ve got a different ballgame,” Judge said. “He put a good swing on it, and that’s all you can do in that situation. Guys were taking good swings all night. We just couldn’t get them to fall.”