Schadenfreude 351 (A Continuing Series)

Orioles - 161 031 221 - 17 19  0
Yankees - 012 020 000 -  5  6  3

Greg Joyce, Post:

Entering Thursday in the midst of a dream season, Luis Gil turned in a nightmare of a start. . . .

The Orioles ambushed Gil for seven runs on eight hits, knocking him out of the game before he could record a fifth out and setting the tone for a brutal 17-5 drubbing of the Yankees.

When the bloodbath was finally over . . . Baltimore [had] taken both series between the top two teams in the American League this season. . . .

The Orioles did what no other team has done this year by clobbering Gil, raising his ERA from 2.03 to 2.77 over the course of his 47-pitch outing.

The runs and hits surrendered were both career-highs, while Gil also walked a pair and hit a batter on a day when he simply did not have it.

The seven runs Gil allowed were the same amount he gave up across his previous nine starts combined. . . .

By the time Aaron Boone finally put Gil out of his misery with one out in the second inning, the Orioles led 7-0 and still had the bases loaded. . . . [T]he Orioles went on to rack up 19 hits overall.

The Yankees' day also included three errors, Gleyber Torres exiting early with groin tightness and the bullpen continuing to show some more cracks.

Before catcher Jose Trevino had to pitch the ninth, five of their six relievers gave up at least one run as the Orioles continued to pile on. . . .

[Gil's] first pitch of the day was roped for a double by Gunnar Henderson over the head of Juan Soto, and it only got worse from there. After limiting the damage to one run in the first inning, he could not stop the bleeding in the second, when the big blow was Ryan Mountcastle's three-run double down the left-field line.

Gary Phillips, Daily News:

With the Yankees searching for a series win over a division rival on Thursday, Luis Gil delivered the worst and shortest start of his career. . . .

Gil, who blanked the Orioles in May, lasted just 1.1 innings and 47 pitches as Baltimore's battering lineup recorded eight hits and two walks against him.

"It's baseball," Aaron Boone said. . . .

Baltimore started bashing Gil in the first inning when Gunnar Henderson smoked a leadoff double, which Juan Soto misjudged. Henderson ripped the ball 110.4 mph over Soto's head, but it had a catch probability of 80%. . . .

[T]he floodgates opened in the second. Cedric Mullins put two runs on the board with a home run before Ryan Mountcastle doubled with three men on. He cleared the bases.

With the bases juiced again later in the inning, Gil forced another run in when he plunked Jordan Westburg. That ended the right-hander's day after just four outs. . . .

There has been a lot of talk about the Yankees watching Gil's workload, as he's nearing his season-high for innings pitched as a pro and is coming off of Tommy John surgery. However, Boone didn't see signs of fatigue on Thursday . . .

With Thursday's blowout, the Yankees lost their second series of the season to Baltimore. Earlier this year, the Orioles took 3-of-4 games at Camden Yards. . . . [The yankees] go back to Baltimore before next month's All-Star break.

Joel Sherman, Post:

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. . . . 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 . . .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. . . .

[It] was a disaster, making the Summer Solstice longest day in the Northern Hemisphere all the longer for the Yankees. . . .

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. . . .

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. . . .

Gleyber Torres . . . committed his 11th error (second most in the majors) and left the game with what the Yankees termed right groin tightness. . . .

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.

Gary Phillips, Daily News:

Jose Trevino's lacking arm strength has been an issue lately.

The Red Sox stole a franchise record nine bases with him catching on Sunday. The Orioles swiped four more bags with him catching on Wednesday. The Yankees lost both of those games, and Trevino also made a throwing error in each.

On Wednesday, he sailed a throw into left field when Cedric Mullins stole third in the 10th inning. Mullins scored the decisive run on the play, as the Orioles won, 7-6. . . .

While not every stolen base was Trevino's fault in those two games – Yankees pitchers need to hold runners on better – it feels like the receiver is being targeted. That would make sense, as Trevino ranks 65th out of 67 catchers in pop time to second base (2.08 seconds) and 62nd out 62 catchers in arm strength (71.6 mph).

Trevino has never had a rocket, but he's throwing 3.4 mph slower than he did last season. Asked if that concerned him on Wednesday night, the Platinum Glove winner simply said "no."