Luke Weaver allows go-ahead runs in return from IL, Yanks fall to Orioles 5-3

The Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

Here are some takeaways…

– Both offenses have been up-and-down of late, but they came out flying in this one. The Orioles loaded the bases and struck for two thanks to a Gary Sanchez single in the first, but the Yankees answered right back and evened things up on a Jazz ChisholmJr. RBI knock and Jasson Dominguez sac fly in the bottom half.

Both Chisholm and Dominguez were able to reach base twice on the night.

– New York jumped in front a few innings later on an Aaron Judge solo homer on his bobblehead night — it was his 27th long ball of the season and the 48th of his career against Baltimore, which is the most by any player against any opponent since 2017.

Judge was on-base four times on the night with a homer, single, and a pair of walks.

– Max Fried found a feel for his pitches and settled in nicely after his rocky first inning. The ace southpaw went into cruise control as he picked up five punchouts and settled the next nine hitters in order before allowing a two-out double to Coby Mayo in the fourth — he struck out the next batter to strand him there.

But the Orioles pushed men into scoring position again in back-to-back innings. Fried stranded Jackson Holiday after he walked and then stole second in the fifth, but Baltimore broke through in the sixth as three straight softly hit singles evened things back up at three.

After the lefty talked his way into staying in the game, he retired the next two Orioles to escape further damage and end his night with a final line of three runs allowed on seven hits and seven punchouts over six innings — his ERA is now at 2.05 on the year.

– After Jonathan Loáisiga put together a scoreless top of the seventh, Luke Weaver entered and was greeted rudely in his return from the injured list. Ramón Urias lifted a solo homer just over a leaping Judge into the short porch, putting Baltimore back in front for the first time since the first inning.

Weaver would allow two more singles and was pulled with two on and two outs in the inning — Tim Hill allowed another run to score before ending the inning.

– The Yanks offense had numerous opportunities, but they weren’t able to scratch anything across against the Baltimore bullpen. Hard-throwing right-hander Felix Bautista put the finishing touches on, recording his ninth consecutive scoreless appearance.

– Anthony Volpe‘s recent struggles at the plate continued — he went 0-for-4 with a pair of ugly looking strikeouts, pushing his hitless streak to 24 at-bats dating back to last Saturday’s loss against the Red Sox.

– New York has now lost seven of their last eight, and their lead in the AL East is down to 1.5 games.

– They are now 8-12 against their divisional opponents thus far this season, and 35-20 against everyone else.

Game MVP: Ramón Urias

He went just 1-for-5 on the night, but his one knock was the big one against Weaver in the eighth.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yanks and O’s continue this three-game set in the Bronx on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.

Clarke Schmidt (3-3, 3.16 ERA) takes the ball against right-hander Zach Eflin (6-3, 4.81 ERA).

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