Orioles makes a statement in series victory over the Yankees

BALTIMORE — It’s hard to make a judgment this early in the season. But after seeing the Baltimore Orioles win three of four games against the New York Yankees this week, this much is clear: the path to winning the American League East goes through Baltimore.

The O’s, who played 19 games ahead of New York en route to winning the 2023 division, out-pitched, out-hit and outplayed the Yankees for much of the four-game set, with Thursday’s finale 7-2 Orioles win, in which Baltimore got a big boost with the return of last year’s breakout starter, Kyle Bradish.

With Thursday’s series win, Baltimore hasn’t lost a series against an AL East opponent in more than a year. He won 12 of 16 series and split four over that stretch, which dates from April 26-28, 2023. The O’s are 36-17 against division opponents in that span and are already 6-1 this season. It’s early, but it felt big, especially since these two teams will play each other nine more times this season and won’t meet again until mid-June.

“You know the weight of division opponents, you don’t try to make it more than it is. It’s just another game in April or May,” said Orioles catcher James McCann, “but in September it’s very easy to get back look and say, ‘If only we had won that game, if only we had done this.’ You don’t want to do that, so we’re very happy to leave that series winning three out of four.”

The Yankees – now a game behind the Orioles in the AL East – are a very different team than they were a year ago, with the additions of Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo injecting energy and production. They entered the day as one of two teams in the AL to already reach 20 wins. Still, this week felt like a wake-up call for New York after suffering just their second series loss.

“They are a complete team to play well against and we know we will be there all year and look forward to more battles with them,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “They are certainly formidable.”

The Orioles and Yankees, arguably the two best teams in the American League, will trade punches all season long. This week’s series, managed by both sides like matches in September, with five-nil saves and a crowd involved from the first ball, was a prelude to what should be a fascinating budding rivalry.

Every good rivalry needs a good villain and the red-hot Soto has emerged as an early candidate. He was booed across all series at a volume that increased after Tuesday’s comments. In that game, Soto homered and stared at Orioles starter Dean Kremer as he began his home run trot, later telling reporters, “He didn’t like the shuffle.” I bet he didn’t like the homer either.”

Soto caused a brief delay in the third inning on Thursday when he got into an altercation with a guard in center field who blocked his view. Once again he was loudly booed. However, Soto was one of the few Yankees bats to show up during the four-game set, as New York scored just six total runs.

They also made three mistakes, the last of which was particularly costly on Thursday. With the score tied at 3-1, Gleyber Torres dropped Anthony Volpe’s throw to second, allowing Ryan to reach Mountcastle safely. Jordan Westberg hurt with a two-run triple that chased Carlos Rodón from his worst start of the season. Rodón allowed seven runs on the season, six of which were earned, including three home runs. The Orioles lead the majors with 48 home runs, seven more than the next best team, the Yankees.

Bradish pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed one run in his season debut on 84 pitches, which Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said was about where his belt was. Bradish struck out five and worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, pumping upper-90s fastballs reminiscent of the breakout campaign of 2023.

“He didn’t miss a beat,” Hyde marveled.

The same can be said for the Orioles as a team, who shocked many on their way to a 100-win season last year and whose dominance should no longer surprise anyone.

The Yankees are good, very good in fact, but to beat the Orioles they might have to be great.

New York is currently without both Gerrit Cole and DJ LeMahieu. Aaron Judge has struggled to find consistency at the plate. The Orioles regained Bradish after Grayson Rodriguez was placed on the injured list following his start on Monday. The O’s won three games without using closer Craig Kimbrel, who was likely unavailable for the first half of the series due to a problem. Instead, they got a pair of great performances from reliever Jacob Webb, who recorded eight outs, six of them via strikeout, and recorded his first save of the season on Tuesday. Hyde called the four-game effort perhaps his team’s “best pitched series” yet.

More injuries will occur. Schedules will shift. These two teams could be in distinctly different places the next time they meet. But for now, the Orioles own Round 1. And they proved again why they are the team to beat in the East.

(Photo by Kyle Bradish: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)