Yankees in first place, but Orioles are still East’s team to beat

The Orioles are in second place and yet the Yankees are chasing them. 

The standings tell one story, with Baltimore trailing the Yankees by one-half game. Their head-to-head matchups are more revealing. The Orioles have won five of the seven while clearly looking like the superior team. 

They took three of four at Camden Yards seven weeks ago. And without using either of their two best remaining healthy starters — notably ace Corbin Burnes — the Orioles just took two of three in The Bronx. The defending AL East champs have now gone 22 straight series against division foes without losing one — the longest such streak since division play began in 1969. The Yankees are 10-12 within the AL East this year. 

Like in Camden, the more athletic Orioles made the Yankees look plodding and unsettled in winning this rubber match 17-5 — the most runs the Yankees have permitted since surrendering 19 to Cleveland on Aug. 15, 2019. 

The Yankees have not won any of their last five series against Baltimore dating to last year. And this was their worst defensive series of 2024 (Anthony Volpe excluded), with the continuing freeway when Jose Trevino catches only growing more troubling. 

Trevino actually ended up pitching the ninth Thursday for a bullpen that is both a midseason tryout camp and worsening calamity. Tim Hill was signed Thursday morning and gave up a three-run homer to Anthony Santander a few hours later as part of what was a 16-run barrage against Yankee relievers in these three games. 

But nothing was quite as disturbing during these three games as Luis Gil’s start. Was this a bad outing or the slipper falling off of Cinderella? Gil could not have honored his responsibility better to the Yankees; filling in for the injured Gerrit Cole and for 14 starts pitching like Gerrit Cole — literally until the ace returned Wednesday night. 

Start No. 15 was a disaster, making the Summer Solstice longest day in the Northern Hemisphere all the longer for the Yankees. Aaron Boone called this merely a “bump in the road” for Gil after seven runs against four outs. But he conceded that the Yanks are constantly monitoring whether the righty, who basically didn’t pitch the past two seasons following Tommy John surgery, is hitting reality or a steel wall. 

Gil said like he “felt like he let the team down,” but also that he feels stronger than at any time this season. 

Gil had thrown 6 ¹/₃ shutout innings on May 1 to help the Yankees win their lone game at Camden. But Baltimore hunted fastballs early Thursday, with 11 of 15 hitters swinging at the first strike they saw on a day when Gil had his velocity, but nothing close to command. 

Baltimore broke the game open with a six-run second. Jordan Westburg went down 0-2 to lead off and lashed a single — previously batters had been 1-for-30 on 0-2 counts against Gil. 

In all, Baltimore was 4-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Gil, who had held hitters to 5-for-48 in that situation all year. The Orioles scored seven runs against four outs, matching the number of earned runs Gil had allowed in his first seven home starts (and 40 innings) this season.

And for the first time this season, after a franchise record 76 straight games, a Yankee starter failed to go at least four innings, exposing a bullpen that has been generally protected by a rotation covering lots of innings. 

Aaron Judge, who missed Wednesday’s game after being struck by a pitch on his left hand in Tuesday’s series opener, hit the two hardest balls Thursday — a 110.6 mph two-run homer and a 114.2 mph RBI single. Thus, ended the good news for the Yankees. Gleyber Torres homered as well, but also committed his 11th error (second most in the majors) and left the game with what the Yankees termed right groin tightness. 

Suddenly — even with Cole back — the Yankees are more battered and bruised, having lost Anthony Rizzo, maybe Torres, two more pitchers to the IL and five of seven games. Don’t expect the Orioles to light a candle. They announced during this series that Kyle Bradish was their third starter this year to need elbow surgery and be lost for the season — as is closer Felix Bautista. 

The Yankees (51-26), Orioles (49-25) and Phillies (49-25) are tied for the majors’ best winning percentage at .662. But Baltimore arrived in The Bronx having taken two of three from Philadelphia. And its mastery of the Yankees persisted. The Orioles have outplayed the Yankees in every way when sharing a field in 2024. 

“They are as formidable as there is and the first couple of series they’ve had with us, they’ve had the upper hand,” Boone said. “There’s a long way to go.” 

The race is on, with it feeling like the Yankees are chasing a team that has been behind them all year in the standings.