NEW YORK — The way the Orioles must scratch and claw for every win they can get right now, nobody in the third base dugout at Yankee Stadium was going to complain about a wall scraper falling in their favor Friday night.
Ramón Urías hit a go-ahead, 337-foot home run in the eighth inning to help the Orioles (33-42) come back and beat the Yankees, 5-3, to open their three-game weekend series.
“This team’s gritty,” said reliever Scott Blewett, who got the win with two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. “To get in late, you have a lack of sleep and then you show up and go put your best effort on the field and get a win at Yankee Stadium on a Friday night, that’s awesome.”
Baltimore fell behind 3-2 after three innings, but a dominant performance from its bullpen, smart base running and timely defensive plays kept the team within striking distance before surging ahead late.
The Orioles pulled to within nine games of the .500 mark for the first time since May 11 with the win while handing the Yankees their seventh loss in their past eight contests.
Baltimore hung around in spite of Tomoyuki Sugano lasting only 3 2/3 innings for his shortest start of the season. He limited the damage to three runs by working his way out of a couple of jams, but his pitch count got away from him as he needed 32 to get through the first inning and 29 in the third. Sugano’s final batter was an intentional walk to Aaron Judge before interim manager Tony Mansolino kicked off a parade of relievers coming in from the bullpen.
“I think there were several things that took place, one of them being mechanics,” Sugano said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “I walked a guy, the first hitter of the game, and that wasn’t really great. But I got out of it with two runs [allowed], so I’ll take that as a positive thing.”
The game started as a seesaw affair. Baltimore loaded the bases off Yankees ace Max Fried in the top of the first and brought two runs home on a single by Gary Sánchez, who played in New York from 2015 to 2021. The Yankees fired right back in the bottom half of the frame, putting three runners aboard as well and scoring on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jasson Domínguez.
New York then jumped ahead in the third when Judge took Sugano deep for an opposite-field home run, his 48th career long ball against the Orioles — fifth most all time. Judge reached base four times, including two singles.
The Yankees threatened to extend that lead with Keegan Akin on the mound the following inning. With runners on first and second, Chisholm singled to right field and DJ LeMahieu got the signal to try and score as he rounded third. Ramón Laureano made him pay the price, firing a throw home to nab him just as he reached home plate. The call stood after replay review, putting Laureano into a tie for the MLB lead with seven outfield assists this season.
“He’s done it a bunch lately,” Mansolino said. “This is probably one of the most underrated free agent signings, the way this guy is playing. You look up on the board, and it’s an .850-ish OPS. It’s Gold Glove defense. It’s impact defense, it’s walks. It’s huge. He’s been so good here. Nobody’s really noticing him, other than the people in that clubhouse.”
That score held until the sixth when Fried, who had settled in to pitch four scoreless innings, gave up three consecutive singles with one out in the sixth. Colton Cowser and Sánchez both got aboard to set up Coby Mayo. The Orioles’ top infield prospect, after roping a 98.1 mph double off Fried earlier in the game, tied the game with a bloop single to center field that allowed Cowser, who made a great read to get a jump on the ball, to score from second.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone tried to pull Fried from the game after that hit, but the left-hander made his case and stayed in, motioning for incoming reliever Fernando Cruz to return to the bullpen halfway through his jog to the mound. Fried then retired the next two batters to get through the rest of the sixth, but the damage was done. The Orioles joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as the only teams to score three or more runs against the $218 million pitcher this season.
“Just trying to beat the mistake that he makes because when he locates well, he’s almost unhittable,” Urías said. “He’s a really good pitcher. He has done it for a while now, and like I said, he’s a guy you can only hit it when he misses his spots.”
The Orioles had even more life in them and their bullpen ensured that they would have plenty of chances to retake the lead. After Akin, aided by Laureano, stranded Sugano’s last two base runners, the lefty pitched a clean fifth. Yennier Cano followed with a scoreless sixth in which he got Chisholm to ground out and strand two more Yankees on base. Then Blewett retired all six batters he faced to get the game to closer Félix Bautista.
The offense took advantage of its copious opportunities with Urías’ blast, which would’ve been a home run in only seven of the 30 MLB ballparks, in the eighth before tacking on another insurance run later in the frame. Ryan O’Hearn and Gunnar Henderson, both of whom were on the bench, each came through with pinch-hit singles to push another run across.
Bautista entered with a two-run lead and worked a 1-2-3 inning that included a strikeout of Judge, making him the only Orioles pitcher Friday to retire the two-time American League Most Valuable Player Award winner. It was his 15th save of the season.
Postgame analysis
After posting a 3.04 ERA over his first 12 outings to start the season, Sugano has a 6.39 ERA over his past three starts while failing to eclipse five innings in any of them.
It’s been an uncharacteristic stretch for the 35-year-old rookie, who has allowed six walks and hit two batters during that span. The Japanese strike zone artist has lost some of his pinpoint command and opponents have punished the pitches he’s left over the heart of the plate. He’s also lost much of his efficiency that made him a saving grace for the bullpen early in the year.
“It’s very minor stuff and I know the reasoning behind it, what’s not working,” Sugano. “I know how to fix them, too. Yeah, that’s that.”
The Orioles need Sugano back on track — not just because he’s been one of their most reliable starters this season, but also because he represents one of their most attractive trade chips should they decide to sell at the deadline.
What they’re saying
Mansolino on his conversation with bench coach Robinson Chirinos ahead of Urías’ go-ahead home run:
“We were kind of figuring out how we were going to handle our bench, and who was going to come off our bench and pitch hit, and part of the conversation was Uri, kind of popping Gunn right there, but with us, with Uri and that short porch right there, he can drive the ball to right field. Robbie and I talked and it was, ‘Hey man, he might go deep right here,’ just with how everything was lining up. We were kind of laughing. It worked out. Maybe we spoke it into existence. But he’s been great, very underrated player, just like the other Ramón.”
By the numbers
Judge is redefining what it means to be an Orioles killer. His 3-for-4 performance Friday improved his career on-base percentage and slugging percentage against Baltimore to .461 and .748, respectively. Both marks are the highest of any hitter with at least 400 plate appearances against the Orioles. After his 48 home runs, the next closest active player is Mike Trout with 29.
On deck
The Orioles will look to extend their record against the Yankees this season to 4-1 on Saturday when Zach Eflin starts against right-hander Clarke Schmidt.
Eflin is coming off a poor outing against the Tampa Bay Rays in which he allowed seven runs on a career-high 12 hits. Schmidt hasn’t allowed a run in 18 1/3 consecutive innings.
Around the horn
• Orioles utility man Jorge Mateo (elbow) has resumed baseball activities and he could begin a rehabilitation assignment soon, Mansolino said ahead of Friday’s game. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill is also on track to join a minor league affiliate as early as Tuesday after Baltimore shut him down because of persistent neck discomfort.
• Pitching prospect Brandon Young was activated from the 7-day injured list Friday and he started for Triple-A Norfolk, returning after a five-week absence caused by a shoulder injury. Young has a 6.23 ERA in two starts for the Orioles this season and he would be among Baltimore’s top starting pitching options should another injury arise.
• However, just as Young returned, another Orioles prospect exited with an injury. Outfielder Dylan Beavers, a first-round pick in 2022, left Norfolk’s game in the first inning with a left shoulder injury after colliding with center fielder Jordyn Adams on a fly ball that became an inside-the-park home run. Beavers walked off the field under his own power.
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